Friday, May 16, 2003 | 9:50 a.m.
A 17-year-old charged in a crime spree that left two men dead and a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper injured tried unsuccessfully to back out of his plea deal on Thursday, moments before he was sentenced to life in prison.
When District Judge Joseph Bonaventure asked Giles Manley if he was prepared to be sentenced, Manley's answer appeared to surprise attorneys and the family members of his victims who packed the courtroom.
"I'm not ready to be sentenced," he said. "I want to take back my plea agreement and go to trial."
Manley in March pleaded guilty to 12 felony counts, including two counts of first-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon, in the rampage last May that left Isaac Perez, 21, and Patrick Melia, 41, dead. He was 16 at the time of the crime.
The deal Manley was attempting to get out of had saved him from a possible execution. In exchange for the teen's conditional guilty plea, Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Lalli had agreed to a stipulated sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Bonaventure said Manley had been given ample time to discuss his plea with Deputy Public Defender Joseph Abood.
"I thought the negotiations were fair," Bonaventure said. "The negotiations were reached after weeks and weeks of talks. But you have rights. You can appeal this."
Bonaventure sentenced Manley to six consecutive life sentences for the murder and kidnapping charges. Four of the life sentences were without the possibility of parole.
Manley showed no emotion as Bonaventure handed down the sentences. Bonaventure said Manley was lucky to have entered into a conditional plea deal.
"If this court could ever see a crime that warranted the death sentence, this would be such a crime," he said.
Perez's grandmother, Miriam Quintana, who referred to Manley as an "evil, evil person," said the teen deserved to die for his crimes.
"Our Almighty said thou shall not kill," she said. "And when you do, it's an eye for an eye, a life for a life. Why are we letting him live? He should have died."
Manley kidnapped him from Ruth Fyfe Elementary School, where he worked as a custodian, and forced Perez to drive away in his car. When Perez drove into a Highway Patrol car stopped at the side of U.S. 95, Manley shot and killed him and then shot Trooper Guy Davis in the foot, police said.
The crime spree continued as Manley carjacked an sport utility vehicle from a local couple and their 10-month-old-daughter before leading police on a high-speed chase that ended when he crashed into another vehicle, killing Melia.
Manley, in court records, stated that he began drinking and using drugs when he was 9, and was beaten so severely as a child that Child Protective Services had to intervene, Bonaventure said.
The teen also had an extensive juvenile record, in which he was placed on probation six separate times.
Bonaventure said Manley's troubled past was no excuse for taking the lives of innocent people.
"You had numerous chances in your past to get help and learn from your mistakes and you failed miserably," he said. "You chose to be a gang member and now you are a 17-year-old kid who will never again walk free."
Quintana wept as she took the stand and described her grandson's hopes and dreams for the future.
Perez had moved to Las Vegas from Waco, Texas, after graduating high school. He said he hoped to someday play basketball at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"He wanted to be an educator," she said. "He loved kids. That was his passion."
Perez's father, Sam Blount, also took the stand and read letters his son had written him and his wife, Linda, weeks before he the slaying.
"The reason I'm writing is to thank you for everything you did for me," Perez wrote in one letter. "You are the most perfect parents anyone could wish or dream for."
Melia's mother, Joan Melia, said she was shocked to hear Manley attempt to back out of his plea deal, but she is satisfied he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
"The fact that he shows no remorse is unbelievable," she said. "Even if he was sentenced to death, it still wouldn't bring my son back."
Abood said he felt sympathy for the victims' family members, as well as for Manley's family members, who were also in the courtroom.
"I know his mother didn't give birth to him to have this happen," he said. "It's tragic all around."
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