Pregnant woman receives 16 years in death of boy, 10

Kim Smith

Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2000 | 10:05 a.m.

A Las Vegas woman eight months pregnant with her first child was sentenced to 16 years in prison Monday in the traffic death of her young cousin.

Stephanie Bowman, 20, was sentenced by District Judge John McGroarty after he heard a string of Bowman's family members testify about the devastation wrought by the March 25 accident.

According to police, a pregnant Bowman was in a rage when she took off in a car full of children and tried to catch up with her boyfriend and another woman. Her car reached speeds up to 90 mph before she lost control of it near Pecos Road and Cheyenne Avenue and hit a light pole.

Bowman's cousin, Marquise Thomas, 10, was killed and Javario Preson, 8, received eye and brain injuries. Two 17-year-olds and a 12-year-old received less serious injuries.

Bowman was indicted on two counts of felony reckless driving, one count of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of child abuse and several misdemeanor charges.

She pleaded guilty in May to one count of child abuse and neglect resulting in death and substantial bodily harm.

Malika Jones, the dead child's mother, said she is terrified to let her other three children out of her sight.

"I cannot keep a job, I don't want to do anything," Jones said tearfully. "I want to stay home with my other kids. I'm scared to drive, and whenever I hear screeching sounds I pull off the side of the road and I throw up."

Jones told McGroarty that she tries hard not to hate anybody, but she hoped he would give Bowman as long a sentence as possible because she "took an innocent child's life."

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker, too, asked for the maximum, pointing out that at the time of the accident Bowman had just been released from house arrest after assaulting a woman with a knife.

Moreover, Bowman completely disregarded the children's pleas to slow down, Booker said.

"She couldn't have cared less if she had had zero kids or 15 in her car," Booker said.

Bowman's child abuse sentence won't start until after she completes a one-to-three year sentence for probation revocation in the assault case, Booker said.

Bowman, whose sobs made her words difficult to understand at times, denied threatening the other woman's life.

"I don't know what was in my mind, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Bowman said. "I'd take the place of Marquise if I could. I wish I wasn't here. I wish he was here and I wasn't."

Bowman begged her family to forgive her and said she has pictures of the dead child and the other children in the family on her cell walls.