Teen slayings becoming more common

Keith Paul

Wednesday, July 3, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.

On June 23 Ramiro Lopez was accused of gunning down his pregnant girlfriend after an argument.

In a metropolitan area that sees on average 120 homicides a year, news of the slaying could have been lost as just another sad statistic. Except the victim and suspect were both 14, making Lopez, who is still on the run, one of the youngest accused murderers in recent Las Vegas history.

Despite the shocking nature of the crime, the allegations against teens such as Lopez are becoming more common. Since 1999 at least 20 kids under the age of 18 have been charged in connection with murders.

Giles Manley is accused of shooting one man to death during a carjacking, shooting a Nevada State Police trooper and killing another man as he was fleeing from police May 8. Manley was then 16 years old. Prosectors are seeking the death penalty.

"If there is a gun in the hand of a 14-year-old, there really is nothing more dangerous," said Peter Reinharz, an expert on juvenile crime who for years prosecuted youthful offenders in New York City. "What's more impulsive than a 14-year-old? Mixing adolescence with guns is like mixing alcohol with cars."

Despite the shock value of a 14-year-old accused of killing his girlfriend, Las Vegas has seen a spate of teen killings. Nearly two dozen other 15, 16 and 17 year olds have been accused of taking part in slayings in the past 3 1/2 years.

"This is not a big surprise to me that a 14-year-old boy is accused of doing this," said Frank Coumou, a deputy Clark County district attorney who has prosecuted some area teens on murder charges. "The moment (a teenage suspect) pulls the trigger (the suspect) is committing an adult crime and will likely face adult charges."

But the ages still surprise Sheriff Jerry Keller, even after 33 years of being a cop.

"No matter the age, it's still a sad day for the victim's family and the suspect's family," he said. "We can't look at this and say it is a trend. It is a single act."

Although three other teens under the age of 18 have been charged with murder this year, the age of Lopez and the violent nature of the accusations shocked the family of his slain 14-year-old girlfriend Monalisa Nava.

"We are dumbfounded. We don't understand what was going through his mind," said Jose Ochoa, Nava's godfather. "We just want him caught. We want justice for her mom."

The girl's family said she was breaking up with Lopez, who they claim was controlling her life and got her to quit school after the eighth grade.

On June 23 Lopez went to Nava's house and the two went outside, where police say they argued about Nava not wanting to go to live in Mexico with Lopez.

Lopez is accused of shooting Nava and then fleeing. Police suspect he may have fled Las Vegas for his native Mexico.

But the Las Vegas area's list of slayings is cluttered with accusations of teens involved in cold-blooded killings.

An 18-year-old and three 17-year-olds pleaded guilty and are in prison for an incident in which a 50-year-old homeless man was beaten to death in April 2001. In 1998 a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy were arrested in the slaying of an elderly couple including a woman affectionately known as the "Candy Lady."

Both were charged as adults and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Coumou, who prosecuted Marcus Dixon, who was 14 at the time of another 1998 slaying, said Dixon "looked like a little boy sitting there in the courtroom." Dixon was convicted of murder and is currently serving life in prison with the possibility of parole.

But Coumou said one of the most chilling murder cases involving teens he has prosecuted happened last year.

A group of four teens ages 18, 17, 17 and 16 pleaded guilty or were convicted for their part in the slaying of 15-year-old Esmeralda Martinez in January 2001. The 15-year-old girl was apparently killed after she spoke badly about a particular gang.

A 17-year-old girl went to Martinez's home and got her to come to the door. She was killed when she opened the door, Coumou said.

"It was very cold-blooded," Coumou said.

A number of the killings involving teens were gang related.

A person involved with a gang or other criminal activity will likely have an easier time getting a gun, said Lt. Tom Monahan of Metro's homicide unit.

Lopez was known to be associated with a gang. It was one of many reasons his girlfriend's family tried to get her to leave him.

"How many of us had teenage romances? How many of us know the pain of heartbreak?" Monahan said. "Yet how many of us reacted by shooting a girlfriend?"

Lopez remains on the run, but when caught he will be booked into the Clark County jail on murder charges as an adult, police said.

Reinharz said that teens are involved in killings all over the country, and it is not likely to stop.

"Unfortunately it's not the last one we are going to see. This is not something that is just isolated to New York, Los Angeles or Chicago," he said. "They cannot, they do not understand the concept of mortality."