Prosecutor says driver used Ecstasy drug to stay awake

Thursday, April 13, 2000 | 10:43 a.m.

Previous tests showed that Jessica Williams had marijuana in her blood after the March 19 accident. But Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said no one had any reason to look for Ecstasy, a stimulant drug.

Booker revealed the new information Wednesday in asking District Judge Lee Gates to retain the defendant's bail at $5 million. Gates wanted to know why Booker had requested such a high bail amount.

The prosecutor described Williams as a transient who had used Ecstasy with a friend before the pair drove to the Valley of Fire State park, where they smoked marijuana for about two hours before the accident. Williams poses a danger to the community, Booker said.

"She's already killed six children and I don't want her to kill any more," Booker said.

Gates decided to leave the bail decision to District Judge Mark Gibbons, who will preside over the trial.

The case was assigned to Gibbons on Wednesday after a grand jury indicted Williams on six counts of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, six counts of reckless driving, six counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of being under the influence of a controlled substance, one count of possessing a controlled substance, and one count of possessing drug paraphernalia.

If convicted, she faces the possibility of life in prison.

Six teen-agers picking up trash along Interstate 15 were killed when Williams' car careened off the highway at an estimated 75 mph and struck the work crew. A seventh teen-ager was injured.

Clark County has since suspended the program of using teen work crews along busy highways as a way of working off misdemeanor offenses.

Williams is scheduled to appear April 20 for an arraignment before Gibbons.