Monday, March 20, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.
A sixth victim died this morning from injuries sustained Sunday when a driver ran off Interstate 15 and plowed through a group of students picking up trash alongside the roadway.
Jessica Williams, 20, the driver of the minivan, may face involuntary manslaughter charges. She was in the Clark County Detention Center this morning.
Williams, a dancer at a Las Vegas strip club, who turns 21 on Friday, was initially charged with six counts of felony DUI and felony reckless driving and one count of possession of a controlled substance, Nevada Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Cabrales said.
But this morning investigators were considering the more serious manslaughter charges as the investigation into the accident continues, Trooper Michael Cooke, highway patrol spokesman, said.
Inside the van a small amount of marijuana and a pipe were found. The results of Williams' blood level tests will be known in a couple of days, Cooke said.
Those killed Sunday afternoon were identified as Scott Garner Jr., 14; Alberto Puig, 16; Anthony T. Smith, 14; Rebecca Glicken, 15; and Malina Stoltzfus, 15. The sixth victim, Jennifer Booth, died this morning at University Medical Center.
Another student, Liliana P. Rodriguez, was treated and released from UMC. Williams and her passenger, Tania Ozark-Smith, 19, were also treated and released from UMC.
Joe Scott, who 11 years ago helped start the program that gives teens convicted of misdemeanors an opportunity to perform community service to pay off fees and restitution fines instead of serving time at the juvenile detention center, couldn't believe what had happened.
"I'm still waiting to wake up," Scott said as he stood in the dirt along the western edge of I-15. "What's the worst thing that could ever happen to you at work? That's today."
Williams' van careened 200 feet across the dirt of the median hitting seven teenagers who were part of a group of 45 picking up trash along the highway just south of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The van eventually spun around, coming to a stop facing northwest in the southbound lanes near the Speedway Boulevard exit, Nevada Highway Patrol Lt. Todd Ellison said.
Seven supervisors were with the juveniles, who were 12 to 17 years old and were part of the Clark County Juvenile Courts community work program, Clark County Family and Youth Services Director Kirby Burgess said.
"In my 26 years here we've never had anything like this happen," Burgess said. "It's been devastating for my staff and me. It's something that tears at your soul."
Scott said there has never been any serious injuries related to the program, there really haven't been any injuries.
"The worst thing we've ever had happen is an insect bite," Scott said. "I know all of the kids in the program. I check their names off on the roll in the morning. They are all good kids. They are all good kids."
Those in the work program clean up graffiti, trash on the side of the roadway or do other service projects, Burgess said.
Three of the students who were killed were enrolled in alternative education programs in the Clark County School District.
Garner was a seventh grader at Washington Opportunity School. Puig was in 11th grade at Jefferson Opportunity School and Smith was a student at Wiley Achievement School, according to district records.
"The purpose of an opportunity school is to provide an alternate setting for students experiencing chronic behavioral problems at their normal school," said Mary Stanley-Larsen, school district spokeswoman.
Glicken was in 10th grade at Green Valley High School and Stoltzfus was a ninth grader at Centennial High School.
All of the workers were wearing red safety vests to stand out from the desert areas they were cleaning and to make sure drivers could see them, Scott said. A deal with Republic Silver State Disposal allows for the roadside trash pickup, Burgess said.
Eleven teenagers who were working near where the van went off the road were interviewed by NHP troopers at the scene before returning to the family and youth services complex, 601 N. Pecos Road.
One boy told a Trauma Intervention Program worker, "I should have said something. I should have yelled for them to move."
Another commented on how close he was to getting hit by the van.
"I was standing right there," he said. "I looked over and saw one person lying there and then I saw four more on the ground."
Volunteers and counselors were waiting for the young workers and staff at Family and Youth Services and will continue to be made available, Burgess said.
"We are offering stress counseling, and we just thank God more children weren't involved," Burgess said. "I will be calling every family in the program."
Parents descended on the Family and Youth Services complex looking for their children Sunday evening, with some leaving embracing their children and others waiting for a representative from the coroner's office.
About 5 p.m. the grief-stricken parents whose children were fatally injured in the accident began coming out of the complex.
Juvenile Probation Supervisor Sally Huncovsky was among those who sat with the families as they were told of their children's fate, and when asked about the meeting just shook her head and said, "It was tough."
Larry Memmer, a truck driver on his way from Utah to California, witnessed the accident.
"I just saw a huge cloud of dust," Memmer said. "It blocked out the road, but when it cleared and I saw the kids, I realized they had no place to go. It looked like the van came at them real fast and they didn't have time to get out of the way."
The accident shut down traffic on I-15 southbound for more than three hours, and cars were diverted back to the Speedway Boulevard exit to use Las Vegas Boulevard as an alternate route.
Jace Radke is a reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-2318 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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