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Court records showed Thursday that a state court judge on
Wednesday ordered the teen, now 19, moved from jail in Las Vegas
to a secure Nevada psychiatric facility for evaluation,
treatment and possible trial if he is found competent. The
commitment order suspends criminal charges against him.
His court-appointed public defender, David Westbrook, did not
respond Thursday to messages about the case.
The teen and a younger co-defendant, also male, each pleaded not
guilty last year to murder and other felony charges alleging
they acted together in a series of car thefts and hit-and-run
vehicle incidents in August 2023, including the apparently
intentional striking of a bicyclist on a quiet northwest Las
Vegas street.
The Associated Press is not naming the defendants due to their
ages at the time of the alleged crimes.
According to police, the teenagers earlier stole a vehicle,
struck a 72-year-old bicyclist with it, and drove away. That man
reported knee pain but was not hospitalized.
The bicyclist who died was Andreas “Andy” Probst, 64, a retired
former police chief in the city of Bell, outside Los Angeles.
His family said he was on a recreational bike ride when video
showed he was struck from behind and left fatally injured on the
side of the road.
Cellphone video, shot from the front passenger seat of an
allegedly stolen vehicle, circulated widely on the internet
before Las Vegas police found and arrested the teens.
They are charged as adults under Nevada law that lets suspects
age 13 and older be tried in state court on murder or attempted
murder charges. They cannot face the death penalty because of
their ages. The most severe sentence they could receive if they
are convicted of murder is 20 years to life in state prison.
Court records show that the older teen has also pleaded not
guilty to attempted murder, battery and attempted robbery
charges in a separate case related to a June 2023 stabbing.
It was not immediately clear Thursday if the younger teen will
stand trial Nov. 12 as scheduled. A pretrial hearing is
scheduled Nov. 5 in Clark County District Court. His attorney,
Daniel Hill, did not respond to messages.
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