Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Hearing to review pedestrian’s 2012 death at overpass

NHP had approached victim, who ran before jumping or falling to his death at 215 Beltway and Decatur

A Police Fatality Public Fact-finding Review into the September 2012 death of Alejandro Sanchez-Escoto is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday.

Sanchez-Escoto, 29, Las Vegas, jumped or fell to his death from the 215 Beltway overpass onto Decatur Boulevard in the early morning hours of Sept. 7, 2012. At the time, the Nevada Highway Patrol reported receiving a call around 4:30 a.m. of a pedestrian walking in a travel lane on the beltway. A responding officer tried to make contact with Sanchez-Escoto, but the man fled and then jumped from the overpass, Trooper Loy Hixson said.

William Jansen, a longtime Las Vegas Township justice of the peace, will preside over the review. Jennifer Bolton, a criminal defense attorney, will serve as ombudsman for the review. Chief Deputy District Attorney Pam Weckerly will represent the District Attorney’s Office.

The presiding officer and ombudsman are selected by the county manager from lists approved by the County Commission. The ombudsman represents the public and the deceased’s family in this fact-finding review.

The review will take place at the Clark County Government Center Commission Chambers, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, and aired live on Clark County Television (CCTV) and streamed over the county’s website.

This is the fifth fact-finding review, which replaced the process known as the “coroner’s inquest.”

At the review, representatives from the District Attorney’s Office present witnesses and make a presentation of the essential facts surrounding the police-involved death. After the prosecutors finish their presentation, the presiding officer and ombudsman may also ask questions.

Members of the public observing the review may submit proposed written questions to the presiding officer on forms available at the review. The presiding officer may ask the proposed questions, revise them or decline to ask them if he deems them “redundant, irrelevant or an abuse of the review process,” according to county ordinance.

The procedure is intended to provide the public with relevant information about the use of force.

No formal determination about the manner or cause of death is rendered.

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