Families grieving; program on hold

Keith Paul

Tuesday, March 21, 2000 | 11:21 a.m.

They weren't bad kids. They were just teenagers who got in a little trouble.

They each lived in different parts of the Las Vegas Valley but found themselves picking up trash together Sunday in the median of Interstate 15 as a way to atone for some minor crime.

But in what seemed like an instant a minivan driven by 20-year-old Jessica Williams ran off the road and struck and killed six of the teen workers on I-15 near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway about 1:45 p.m.

Scott Garner Jr., 14, Alberto Puig, 16, Anthony T. Smith, 14, Rebeccah D. Glicken, 15, and Malina M. Stoltzfus, 15, died on the median. Jennifer Booth, 16, died at University Medical Center on Monday.

One wanted to be a nurse. Another dreamed about joining the U.S. Navy. Their families and friends can now only gather and grieve their deaths.

"Scott was the type of child if an old lady dropped a box of cereal in the store, he would turn around, walk back and pick it up for them," his father Scott Garner Sr. said as his voice cracked trying to hold back his anguish. "He had his moments like any other 14-year-old is going to have, but 99 percent of the time he was a very caring and loving boy."

Just in the seventh grade, Scott admitted he was wrong when he acted as a lookout for another teen who stole money from a house. Scott was picking up trash to pay for restitution to the victims, his father said.

The young accident victims were just teenagers getting excited about things that most adults take for granted -- like driving.

Jennifer Booth just turned 16 in December and was anxiously waiting until she could get her own car, said Harriett Booth, her stepmother.

The 16-year-old sophomore at Las Vegas High School was well on her way to becoming a nurse, according to her father, Dale Booth.

"She volunteered at Valley Hospital once a week," Booth said. "She wanted to go to college and become a nurse. She was already filling out the papers."

Other families were too upset to talk about the teens' deaths.

"I've lost a very dear child. We loved her dearly," said Ken Glicken, Rebeccah Glicken's grandfather. "We're in sorrow."

Blood tests pending

Williams is scheduled to appear in Justice Court Wednesday. The Nevada Highway Patrol charged Williams with six counts of felony driving under the influence, six counts of felony reckless driving and two drug-related crimes. William told investigators that she had smoked marijuana two hours before getting behind the wheel of the minivan and driving with a friend, said Trooper Michael Cooke, a state patrol spokesman.

Investigators are waiting for the results from blood tests to see if any drugs were in her system at the time of the crash, he said. The results should be returned in five to 10 days.

Williams told investigators she lives in Littlefield, Ariz. just east of Mesquite, and has a California driver's license. She apparently has no prior criminal record.

Williams had a work card as an exotic dancer at Little Darlings in Las Vegas. She has danced occasionally at the club since October, the last time on Saturday, said Ron Nady, one of the club's managers.

She remained in Clark County Detention Center this morning.

Program on hold

At least for this weekend, no children will be picking up trash on the side of a highway, said Margy Purdue, spokeswoman for the Clark County Department of Family and Youth Services which administers the Probation Services Work Program.

Juvenile Court Judge Robert Gaston said Monday that the future of the program hasn't been discussed yet, but in light of the teens' deaths it will be. The future of picking up trash on highways and safety precautions will be among the issues, he said.

"We've been doing this the last 11 years and this is the first incident we've had," Gaston said. "We'll certainly have to look at this. We have to see what, if any, safety precautions we can add."

But that is little solace to Garner, who wants to know why his young son and 22 other kids were in a median on a busy road Sunday. Another 22 children were also working a short distance away on the side of the highway.

"Our children died needlessly and they didn't have to," Garner said. "It is totally irresponsible to send out children to pick up trash with cars going by at 60, 70 or 80 mph. There are hundreds of other things they could have had them do."

Jose Venegas, 17, said he feels lucky to have been working on the west side of Interstate 15 instead of the east side, where the minivan veered off the road.

"I was only 20 feet away from where it happened," Venegas said. "The driver (of the minivan) veered off the road and was going to hit one of the vans that took us out to the highway.

"She swerved to the inside of the van and hit the kids."

Venegas, who has worked for the county on the highway media before, said it is a scary place to be.

"The semis speed by at 80 (mph) and throw rocks up at you," Venegas said. "We work right up next to the roadway. When you're out there, you're always looking over your shoulder."

Kids have been picking up trash on the side of the road for about 11 years as part of the Juvenile County community work program. The kids also clean graffiti, clean up after youth league games and do other community work to settle restitution and fees.

Silver State Disposal donates $3,850 a month to the nonprofit group Children's Service Guild, which uses the money to pay restitution to the victims of the crimes and pay court fees and fines of the children, Purdue said.

John T. Moran Jr., an attorney for Silver State, said the company doesn't have a contract or an agreement with the county for the work to be done but was approached about six years ago about making the contributions.

The majority of the kids convicted in the juvenile court system are sentenced to community work service, because it is a way to avoid detention or get out of fines they may not have the money to pay.

"Right now, we're just trying to get through the crisis," Gaston said. "We're setting up grief counseling for the families and for the staff involved. People are in shock and grief, and we have to work through that first."

Dale Booth, the father of Jennifer Booth, said he knew she would be cleaning up trash as part of her restitution and asked, "How can you stop something like this?"

To Garner the answer is simple. Don't have kids working alongside a busy highway.

"We've got to put a stop to this," he said. "There are parks all over town where they can pick up trash."

Reporters Jace Radke and Kim Smith contributed to this report. Keith Paul covers crime and public safety for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4057 or by e-mail at keith@ lasvegassun.com.