Teen accused in hit-and-run that killed former police chief found not competent

Katelyn Newberg, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Oct 9, 2024

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LAS VEGAS — A 19-year-old accused of killing a retired police chief in a hit-and-run last year has been found incompetent to face the charges.

Jesus Ayala and his co-defendant, 17-year-old Jzamir Keys, have been in custody since August 2023 in connection with the fatal crash, in which they were accused of intentionally hitting 66-year-old Andreas Probst as he rode his bicycle in the northwest Las Vegas Valley.

District Judge Christy Craig found Ayala not competent to face the charges out of an “abundance of caution,” said Chief Deputy Public Defender David Westbrook, following a court hearing Wednesday.

The judge ordered Ayala to be sent to a state psychiatric hospital for treatment to restore his competency, Westbrook said.

Westbrook has previously said that Ayala has “pretty severe brain damage from several sources.” In prior court hearings, Craig indicated she was likely going to find Ayala competent, but Westbrook asked state doctors to review a separate report done by a neuropsychologist hired by the public defender’s office before the judge issued her ruling.

Prosecutors this week also filed a new case against Ayala, charging him with robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and grand larceny of a motor vehicle, court records show.

Further information about that case was not immediately available. But Westbrook questioned why prosecutors were filing charges against his client while he is undergoing competency proceedings.

Westbrook cited a state law that says if a case’s proceedings are suspended when “doubt arises” about a defendant’s competency, then other court departments shall suspend “any other proceedings relating to the defendant until the defendant is determined to be competent.”

“They know competency has been challenged and they chose to file this case anyway,” Westbrook told the Review-Journal on Tuesday.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson did not respond to a request for comment about the new case.

Ayala and Keys are accused of stealing multiple cars and filming themselves intentionally hitting another bicyclist and rear-ending a separate vehicle before striking Probst, who was a retired police chief from Bell, California. Keys is also accused of filming a disturbing video of Ayala laughing and ramming into the back of Probst’s bicycle.

Earlier this year, a grand jury handed down a superseding indictment that also charged Ayala with battery, attempted murder and attempted robbery in connection with a stabbing that happened in June 2023.

The victim in the stabbing told police that he was drinking outside his home when a teenager walked by him, and he accused the teen of stealing something from him. He then followed the teenager and was attacked by a group of five other people, according to an arrest report.

After Ayala was arrested in the hit-and-run, the man attacked in June identified Ayala in a photo lineup, the report said.

The arrest report also identified Ayala as a member of the “Night Crawlers criminal gang.” Ayala has denied being a member of a gang or being involved in a stabbing, the report said.

A hearing in the new robbery case is scheduled for Thursday, court records show.

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