No murder charges against LV teenager

Kim Smith

Friday, June 2, 2000 | 11:10 a.m.

The 14-year-old Las Vegas boy arrested in connection with a high-speed crash that killed two of his friends spent Thursday night at the Clark County juvenile detention center after prosecutors decided not to file murder charges against him.

Milton Ennis was originally booked into the Clark County Detention Center on felony murder, stolen car and evading police charges following a pair of car accidents Monday.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said that after reviewing the case and discussing it with District Attorney Stewart Bell, it was decided that it would be difficult to pursue a murder case against the boy.

Juveniles charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and felony evading police cannot automatically be treated as adults and the decision was made to transfer him to the juvenile center, Booker said.

Deputy District Attorney Frank Ponticello said once he receives the file from Booker he will determine what charges should be filed against the boy and whether an attempt should be made to certify him as an adult.

Among the things looked at when weighing possible adult status are the nature of the offense, the juvenile's criminal history, determining if the juvenile poses a risk to the community and if the juvenile is capable of being rehabilitated.

Ponticello said a decision will likely be made about Ennis early next week.

According to police, an officer saw two stolen Honda Civics near Smoke Ranch Road and Rainbow Boulevard early Monday. The officer followed the cars onto U.S. 95 at Lake Mead Boulevard and tried to stop them near Decatur Boulevard.

Police said the cars then sped up to around 100 mph. One of the Civics, carrying Cedric J. Tiffith Jr., 16, and Miguel A. Munoz Jr., 15, crashed into a concrete barrier wall near the Casino Center Boulevard exit, careened across three lanes and hit the center barrier and a light pole.

The Civic broke into three pieces, and the two teens were thrown from the car and killed, police said.

A patrol car started to slow down after the wreck and the other Honda driven by Ennis rear-ended the cruiser.

The officer was treated at University Medical Center for minor injuries and Ennis was arrested.

A person can be charged with felony murder if someone dies while someone is committing or attempting to commit a robbery, sexual assault, burglary or kidnapping, Booker said.

Or, a person can be so charged if their conduct results in death or destruction of property.

In this case, Booker said there wasn't enough of a link between the two deaths and Ennis.

"We needed more of a causation by him," Booker said.

If Ennis had been driving the car the two victims were in, he might still be facing murder charges, Booker said.

A deputy district attorney originally gave police permission to arrest Ennis for felony murder because it was once common to file such charges when someone was killed during the commission of a crime, Booker said.