Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022 | 12:15 p.m.
Two men accused of a pair of killings during a New Year’s Eve crime spree were arraigned this morning in Clark County District Court.
Jordan Ruby, 18, and Jesani Carter, 20, both of California, pleaded not guilty today to counts including open murder, attempted murder and robbery with use of a deadly weapon.
They appeared virtually via video in front of Eighth District Court Judge Tierra Jones. Ruby and Carter each face 13 counts stemming from a string of robberies that occurred Dec. 30 and 31.
Prosecutors have 180 days to decide if the state will pursue the death penalty.
Metro Police said Ruby and Carter approached 66-year-old Clarice Yamaguchi of Hawaii about 1:30 p.m. Dec. 31 and tried to rob her and her husband as they were leaving a parking structure at Fashion Show mall.
Yamaguchi refused to hand over her money, and she was subsequently shot before the suspects fled the scene a silver BMW, police said. Yamaguchi was pronounced dead at the scene.
In another botched robbery later that day, a man was shot about 6:15 p.m. inside the parking garage at Palace Station, police said. The 60-year-old victim, Hyu Sup Um, was taken to University Medical Center, where he later died, police said.
After an investigation, officers connected Ruby and Carter to Um’s shooting, as well as a separate attempted robbery Dec. 31 in which an employee at a casino in the 2400 block of Las Vegas Boulevard South was shot at but not struck while inside the parking structure, police said.
Ruby and Carter were also implicated in a Dec. 30 robbery and another New Year’s Eve robbery, according to a grand jury indictment filed Friday. The specifics of those robberies were not detailed in the indictment.
Ruby and Carter remain at the Clark County Detention Center, according to jail records.
