News briefs for March 7, 2002

Thursday, March 7, 2002 | 10:04 a.m.

Woman charged in man's death

A homeless man set on fire Wednesday died Wednesday night, and a homeless woman accused of assaulting him will now face murder charges, Metro Police said.

The man, whose name was not released this morning, died about 11:45 p.m. Wednesday at University Medical Center, police said.

Phyllis Gray, 55, was charged Wednesday with attempted murder and arson and was booked into the Clark County jail. She will likely be re-booked today on a murder charge, police said.

No leukemia signs in marrow

Family members of former university Regent Tom Wiesner, who resigned last month due to illness, announced Wednesday that he is on the mend.

Since being diagnosed with acute myloid leukemia, a rare form of bone marrow cancer, Wiesner learned that there are no visible signs of leukemia cells in his bone marrow, is wife, Lynn Wiesner, said.

"Tom just received the best birthday present of all," she said.

The results are the first to come back from a marrow transplant on Jan. 25.

Assemblywoman has 50-50 chance

Doctors have given Assemblywoman Sandra Tiffany about a 50-50 chance of recovering from kidney failure, a close friend said Wednesday.

Tiffany, R-Henderson, remains in the intensive care unit at Providence St. Joseph's Medical Center in Burbank, Calif., where she was taken Monday after suffering severe pain on a plane stopping in Burbank on route to Sacramento.

The 52-year-old politician, who is running for state Senate, is currently receiving dialysis and is using about 50 percent of the oxygen supplied by a respirator, said Barbara Cegavske, a close friend and fellow assemblywoman who is at Tiffany's side.

Initially, medical staff feared Tiffany would not live through Tuesday night. However, Cegavske said Wednesday night that the small signs of progress Tiffany is showing give her hope that Tiffany will pull through.

Life sentence handed killer

A 35-year-old Las Vegas man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday in the stabbing death of a 21-year-old man.

Edward Smith, convicted of second-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon in December, will have to serve at least 20 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

Smith claimed he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Martinique Tillman in the early morning hours of May 28. Tillman died from eight knife wounds, and Smith suffered a single cut to his left hand.

The stabbing occurred in Smith's car at an apartment complex near Sierra Vista Drive and Cambridge Street.

Tillman's mother, Pam, told District Judge Kathy Hardcastle her son "regarded life" and would never have attacked anyone. She said that shortly before her son died he expressed remorse over missing the birth of his second child.

A man found dead

in a motel room by a maid Wednesday morning has been identified as 32-year-old Enrique E. Caminero of Las Vegas. He was found Wednesday about 10:20 a.m. in a room at the Capri Motel, 3245 E. Fremont St., Metro Police said. The room had been rented by a woman on Tuesday, and three men were seen with the woman around the motel that night, police said.

A woman stabbed to death

last month downtown was identified as 41-year-old Ruby L. Clark. She was found dead at the intersection of 10th Street and Stewart Avenue about 2:30 a.m. Feb. 26. A suspect has been described as a black man, 5 foot 4 to 5 foot 6, stocky, weighing about 190 pounds, collar-length hair and wearing a white, long-sleeve shirt, similar to a chef's jacket.

A man shot to death

and pushed out of a car Monday was identified as 19-year-old Daniel A. Ramos of Las Vegas. Metro Police found Ramos' body near the curb in the 3100 block of Vegas Valley Drive near McLeod Drive about 7 a.m. Monday.

Federal safety investigators

planned today to interview the sole survivor of a Grand Canyon tour helicopter crash that killed six people last summer 60 miles east of Las Vegas. National Transportation Safety Board investigators hope Chana Daskal can offer some clues in determining what caused the sightseeing helicopter to crash Aug. 10, 2001. Daskal, is recovering at home in Brooklyn, N.Y.