Richard Newsome appears in Las Vegas Justice Court on Jan. 20, 2017. Newsome, 17, is charged in the shooting death of former Chaparral High School football player Richard Nelson.
Published Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 | 9:08 a.m.
Updated Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 | 9:47 a.m.
A 17-year-old charged in the shooting death of former Chaparral High School football star Richard Nelson appeared today in Las Vegas Justice court, where a preliminary hearing date was set for next month.
Dressed in blue scrubs and bound by handcuffs, Richard Allen Newsome stood quietly, nodding his head and speaking one-word answers as Judge Holly Stoberski asked him if he understood the charge — open murder — against him. Stoberski set a preliminary hearing date for Feb. 6 at the request of defense attorney John Momot.
Newsome was booked on a count of murder at the Clark County Detention Center after the court classified him Wednesday as an adult, police said.
Newsome and his mother, Tianna Thomas, 37, were arrested after turning themselves in to authorities on Tuesday. Thomas, who also uses Douglas as a last name, was booked on a count of harboring, concealing and aiding a felony suspect but was released on bail, court logs show.
She appeared in court Thursday and is next scheduled to appear on April 3. She posted $5,000 bail.
Officers and medical crews were dispatched about 7:30 p.m. Saturday to the 4800 block of Sacks Drive, near Nellis Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, police said.
An initial investigation determined Nelson, 18, was inside a house and went outside to help a family member who was in a fight with multiple people, including Newsome, police said. That’s when Newsome fired a gun and fled, police said.
Nelson died at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.
District Attorney Steve Wolfson attended Newsome’s court appearance but did not speak to reporters.
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