Affidavit: Teen confessed to girl’s assault, murder

Tuesday, June 3, 1997 | 11:32 a.m.

Jeremy Strohmeyer confessed that he sexually assaulted and murdered 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson at a Primm casino after becoming angry when the child hit him with a sign, according to an affidavit filed in Goodsprings Justice Court.

The Los Angeles girl was found raped and strangled May 25 in a women's restroom at the Primm Valley hotel-casino on the Nevada-California state line.

Strohmeyer, 18, of Long Beach was arrested Wednesday. His extradition hearing scheduled for Monday was reset for today because of a scheduling conflict with defense attorney Leslie Abramson.

Strohmeyer told Metro Police that he was playing hide and seek with Sherrice and the two were throwing spitballs at each other, the affidavit said. While they were playing, Sherrice threw a "Caution Wet Floor" sign at Strohmeyer and hit him with it.

Strohmeyer told police that this angered him.

"He followed her into the women's restroom and grabbed Sherrice and took her into the handicapped stall and put his hand over her mouth because she was struggling with him, trying to escape," according to the affidavit.

Strohmeyer put the girl on top of the toilet and began removing her pants and underpants. He threw them and her black boots into the toilet.

He then sexually assaulted Sherrice with his fingers, the affidavit said. During the assault, he heard three Hispanic females enter the restroom.

"He then sat on top of Sherrice and put her dangling feet in the toilet water so it would look like someone was using the toilet," the affidavit said.

When the women left, Strohmeyer sat up and said he noticed that Sherrice's breathing "was labored." He thought she was brain dead and didn't want her to suffer, so he attempted to break her neck "like he has seen on TV."

The girl was still breathing, so Strohmeyer repeated the motion, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit says Strohmeyer then left the restroom and met up with his friend, 18-year-old David Cash, at the pool.

Cash told investigators that Strohmeyer told him he had killed Sherrice, the affidavit said.

Meanwhile, criminal charges are not expected to filed against Cash, according to Assistant District Attorney Charles Thompson, although he admitted "there is serious disagreement in our office whether he can be charged."

Thompson said Cash did not do anything illegal, although the teenager admitted he went into the restroom and peered into the stall where he said Strohmeyer was attacking the girl, yet did nothing about it.

"He said something like, 'Hey, man, this is no good. Let's get out of here,'" Thompson said, adding that his suggestion was ignored.

The prosecutor pointed out that the law does not require a private citizen to stop someone who is committing a crime or report a crime if it is witnessed.

"If he did something to help (Strohmeyer) get away, we'd charge him," Thompson said. "If he was asked about it and lied, that's an offense."

Cash's father actually was the one who drove the teens back to California and there has been no information that he had any clue what had occurred.

He noted, however, that while charges are not expected in Nevada, that still is a possibility in California if Cash did something there to hinder the murder investigation.

Cash was videotaped Saturday night outside his high school prom standing up through a sunroof in a limousine. He was flashing signals that Metro gang specialists said today were "white supremacy hand signs." Cash and Strohmeyer are white, and Sherrice was black.

Also, police said Strohmeyer openly talked about child pornograpy to his friends.

Leslie Abramson, who became famous defending Erik Menendez in the shot-gun murder of his parents, is the attorney of record for Strohmeyer.

While Abramson doesn't have a license to practice law in Nevada, she can hook up with a law firm in Las Vegas if the judge approves it, according to the Nevada State Bar. Once the judge approves the association, which is allowed per Nevada Supreme Court Rule 42, then Abramson can defend Strohmeyer in Las Vegas, once he's extradited.

After Strohmeyer's arrest Wednesday at his Long Beach home, he told Metro Police detectives he wouldn't fight extradition. Later, however, he changed his mind once he got an attorney, police said.

Extraditions can last anywhere from 30 to 90 days and "given the way California's system works, it'll probably go to the maximum," said homciide Sgt. Bill Keeton.

Abramson was in court this morning and unavailable for comment. Her office confirmed that she was handling the case.

While criminal charges eventually may be filed against Sherrice's father for leaving her unsupervised at the casino, it is unlikely they will be the felony charges some have advocated.

There has been some pressure on the DA's office to file charges against 57-year-old LeRoy Iverson for leaving his daughter unsupervised and vulnerable in a video arcade while he gambled.

At the time of the murder, Iverson was gambling in an upstairs casino.

"You have to blame dad in part for not supervising the girl," Thompson said, noting that his office is considering filing misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor charges against Iverson.

While some attorneys in his office have advocated charging Iverson with felony child abuse and neglect charges, Thompson questioned whether that would be feasible under the facts of the case.

Felony charges frequently are filed against mothers of babies killed by abusive stepfathers or the mothers' boyfriends when the mothers return the children to situations that are known to be dangerous.

In the Primm case, Thompson said LeRoy Iverson had an "obligation" to ensure that Sherrice be supervised, especially after he was notified by security that she was running around alone.

But he said that to elevate the situation to a felony charge would require proof that Iverson knew his daughter was in danger.

"Certainly he didn't know of this danger," Thompson said.

He indicated that the father's legal liability might be lessened since the girl was supposed to be watched by her teenage brother, which the prosecutor admitted was legally sufficient, although that wasn't being done at all times.

Thompson said he believes Iverson could be charged with a nonfelony negligence charge, although a final decision will have to await the results of the Metro Police investigation.

The seeming glut of evidence will pose problems for Strohmeyer's Las Vegas lawyer, Richard Wright, and Abramson.

"We've got liability dead bang, so we're only arguing penalty," Thompson said.

Prosecutors could legally seek the death penalty because Sherrice Iverson was a child and because the slaying occurred following a sexual assault. The final decision, however, will rest with the DA's death penalty review committee after viewing the available evidence.

A byproduct of the case, Thompson said, is that resorts may have to change the way they deal with children who roam about while their parents patronize the casino.

He said the Clark County Commission on Monday asked the district attorney's office to draft an ordinance requiring hotels to close the arcades at a certain time and provide security for juveniles inside at all times.

Just how that could be accomplished is unclear to Thompson, who envisions that parents might have to check in children to the arcades and be the only ones to check them out.

"Does that mean that children can't leave if they want to?" he asked. "Where does it end? I feel sorry for the hotels."

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