Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Kids beaten to death with bat, police say

Friends of the Las Vegas woman who allegedly bludgeoned her two children to death with a baseball bat Tuesday morning said they knew her as a good mother.

The mother, 40-year-old Sylvia Ewing, remained in critical condition this morning after stepping in front of a tractor-trailer Tuesday morning, authorities said.

A note that she left in the family's apartment "left little doubt in anyone's mind that" the attack and the attempted suicide were planned, Metro Police Lt. Tom Monahan said.

The two children, Phillip, 8, and Julie, 4, were found by their father, Daryl Ewing about 3:30 p.m. after he returned home to the family's one-bedroom apartment in the Emerald Suites, at 4555 Las Vegas Boulevard North, across the street from the entrance to Nellis Air Force Base, police said.

Monahan said there is no evidence that the children tried to flee or fight back or had any warning of the attack. One child was found in the living room and the other was in the bedroom.

Susan Klein Rothschild, director of Clark County Family Services, said this morning that to her knowledge the Ewings had no history of abuse or neglect.

Neighbors said Sylvia Ewing had some kind of mental health issue for which she received treatment, but they weren't sure what it was. Police this morning were trying to find out if Sylvia Ewing had a history of mental illness, but Monahan said they might run into roadblocks because of medical history privacy laws.

The Ewings' former neighbors in North Las Vegas had trouble understanding how such a caring mother could do this to her children.

"This is so heartbreaking," said former neighbor Jenny Levin, who lives in the Ewings' old neighborhood near Ann Road and Coleman Street in North Las Vegas.

"I do not want the media to portray my friend as some psycho mom. What she did was wrong but she just had problems like we all do. But she loved her kids and would want to be with them now."

Levin had last talked to Sylvia Ewing on Sunday by phone and there was no indication of any problems. They talked about the Ewings' upcoming move into their new home, and they talked about their children, Levin said. She said she had last seen her last Thursday when Ewing visited her old neighborhood.

Levin, fighting back tears, said Sylvia Ewing was dedicated to her children, driving them to and from school every day, giving them birthday parties with pinatas and attended their preschool graduation ceremonies.

"I am shocked over what has happened," said Levin, whose son Zachary regularly played with Phillip.

Another neighbor who declined to give her name said Phillip and Julie were "just delightful children who loved to have fun and had friends all over the neighborhood."

Both neighbors said that Sylvia Ewing, a stay-at-home mom, and Daryl Ewing, a retired military man who now drives trucks for a living, had recently returned from the Phillippines with the children. They had been visiting Sylvia Ewing's family in the Phillipines, neighbors said.

The couple had lived on Ash Meadows Way in North Las Vegas for several years beginning in 1997, but most recently they had been living at the Emerald Suites while waiting to move into a new home inearly October.

Phillip was described by neighbors as a quiet boy who enjoyed roughhousing. Julie was remembered for the big wad of gum that she often chewed.

Phillip Ewing attended Cozine Elementary School, neighbors said.

Staff at the school declined to comment this morning, but noted that a counselor was on campus as part of a previously scheduled visit and was visiting classrooms. Principal Andrea Klafter-Phillips was off campus at a training session and unavailable for comment.

According to Monahan, Daryl Ewing went to work at 2:30 a.m., leaving his family in their one-bedroom apartment in the Emerald Suites.

About an hour later Sylvia Ewing brought her two children to a Wal-Mart about a half-mile away and bought a baseball bat, Monahan said.

At 7 a.m. the father called home to wake up his wife so she could get their son ready for school. Monahan said the father spoke to his wife then, but got no answer when he called the home later in the day.

Around 8:30 a.m., after her children were dead, Sylvia Ewing was seen walking north along the shoulder on Las Vegas Boulevard just outside the apartment complex, Monahan said.

A bicyclist stopped and warned her to stay out of traffic, Monahan said. But she stepped in front of a southbound 1999 Kenworth tractor-trailer rig driven by Kevin Taylor, 34, of Henderson.

Taylor told Metro accident investigators that he swerved to the left to avoid hitting Ewing, but it was too late.

Police didn't know Sylvia Ewing's name for hours after she was hit because she wasn't carrying any identification, so her husband wasn't aware that his wife was in the hospital.

She has remained unconscious since being hit by the truck. If she survives, she will face two counts of murder with a weapon and possibly additional charges, Monahan said.

No one apparently heard the attack on the children, Monahan said. The apartment is an end unit on the second floor of one of the several three-story buildings that make up the complex.

Maj. David Martinson, who moved into the apartment complex two months ago when he was transferred to Nellis, said: "It's very difficult to understand how someone would be able to take his own children's lives.

"It makes me appreciate my kids. My wife and I think that's the most important thing in our lives. To find out something like this happened, it's unbelievable," said Martinson, the father of two children, ages 13 and 11.

Fellow neighbor Elizabeth Merchen said the alleged crime made her sick to her stomach.

"I have two children and I could never. You leave you're family before you hurt them. It's not comprehendable," she said.

Tina Etchart, a bartender at the 25 Club, which is in front of the complex, said she too could not imagine a mother hurting her own children.

"I'm just sick. I can't even imagine it. I wake up every day and my first thought is for my kids," she said. "It's the worst thing I can possibly imagine happening to a child. It's one of the worst tragedies I can imagine."

The Emerald Suites opened in December, on-site managers said. Neighbors said the complex was quiet and safe.

"I feel safe enough to let my son, who's almost 11, walk around," Merchen said. Merchen and other residents said a one-bedroom apartment costs about $250 a week.

Sun reporter

Jen Lawson and assistant metro editor Jean Reid Norman contributed to this story.

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