Bargain made in hit-run

Bill Gang

Friday, Nov. 8, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A plea bargain has ended the murder case of a man charged with running over and killing a security guard in the parking lot of the Sun Harbor Budget Suites on Oct. 24.

Patrick Juarez III waived his preliminary hearing Thursday and agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident, which carries a possible 15-year prison term.

In the deal, Deputy District Attorney Dan Seaton agreed to drop the murder charge and not argue for a harsh prison term when Juarez, 24, eventually is sentenced.

"It was not a murder case," Seaton said Thursday. "It wasn't an intentional killing."

The charges against Juarez, a driver for Teens of Nevada, resulted from the incident in which 31-year-old Michael Morrow was dragged more than 50 feet and run over when he slid under the van.

Police said witnesses told how the van was put in reverse and run over the injured man again.

But defense attorney John Million Turco said that allegation is untrue.

"There were no witness statements saying that at all," agreed Seaton. "If that had been the case, I'd have my intent and could go after the murder charge."

The veteran prosecutor said that without the intent to kill, the only charges that could be proven were reckless driving involving a death or leaving the scene of an accident.

"Reckless driving sounds better but the penalty is only one to six years in prison," he explained. "Leaving the scene of an accident carries a sentence of two to 15 years, so I chose that."

Turco said that Juarez drove off when Morrow tried to pull him from the van filled with teenage candy sellers after chastising him for speeding in the parking lot.

Seaton said that Morrow apparently grabbed a hold of the door handle and window frame and was carried along until falling off a short distance away.

Witnesses said the last thing they saw was the van careening on two wheels around a corner, the prosecutor said.

Turco said it was not clear to Juarez that Morrow was a security guard and feared for the safety of the other teens when an attempt was made to pull him from the van.

But Seaton countered that conversations overheard between the two indicated that he knew the man in the "Security" T-shirt was legitimate and that there had been prior incidents of speeding in the parking lot by Juarez.

When the fatal incident occurred, Juarez had just dropped off a teenager to sell candy in the residential motel complex at 4625 S. Boulder Highway.

Seaton said Juarez originally claimed to a friend that he was unaware the van had driven over the victim, causing massive injuries.

"He had to have known," Seaton charged, indicating it "probably would have felt like a speed bump but only under the back wheel."

Juarez is scheduled to enter his plea to the charge on Nov. 19 in District Judge Jeff Sobel's courtroom.

Seaton said Morrow's wife, Linda, 46, approved the plea bargain and is eager to resolve the criminal case.

After Juarez agreed to the plea bargain, Justice of the Peace James Bixler lowered the defendant's bail to $2,000, citing his lack of a significant criminal record.

Although the criminal case will end without a trial, it is expected that Morrow's family will file a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Juarez and Teens of Nevada. The family's lawyer, Marty Keach, was in court Thursday to watch the proceedings.