Teen charged in deaths, trooper shooting

Kim Smith

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 10:25 a.m.

Gasps of outrage and shock filled the courtroom this morning as a 16-year-old boy accused of killing two men and shooting a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper made his first court appearance.

"I thought he'd look so much different. He looked like a little kid," Erica Quintana said of Giles Kenneth Manley.

Manley is accused of shooting Quintana's cousin, Isaac Perez, 21, to death May 10 during a carjacking and causing a crash that killed Patrick Melia, 41, later the same evening.

Quintana and several other family members attended the hearing wearing T-shirts adorned with Perez's picture.

"We're trying to be strong, but this was just a senseless killing. He just went on shooting and shooting and shooting him," Miriam Quintana, Perez's grandmother, said. "It was senseless, he could have just taken the car ... and then to go and kill someone else. He's just an animal."

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti appointed Deputy Public Defender Joe Abood to Manley's case and scheduled a June 17 preliminary hearing.

Manley was formally charged Thursday with 11 felony charges, including open murder.

Police allege that Manley kidnapped Perez, a custodian at Ruth Fyfe Elementary School, from the school and forced him to drive away in Perez's new Lincoln Town Car.

When Perez, 21, spotted a trooper who had pulled a car over on the Eastern Avenue exit ramp off U.S. 95, he appeared to try to get the trooper's attention.

Lt. Tom Monahan said he thinks Perez tried to slow down the car and jump out, but ended up accidentally hitting Trooper Guy Davis' car.

After Perez hit the stopped car, Davis heard gunshots from inside the Town Car. Manley is accused of getting out and shooting at Davis, hitting the 33-year-old in the foot before fleeing.

According to a police report, it looked as though Perez was shot to death from the back seat of the Town Car.

Seven 9mm shell casings were found in or near the car, the police report states.

Police allege that Manley ran away, then carjacked a Chevrolet Tahoe at gunpoint from a parking lot at Eastern and Stewart avenues.

About four hours later a North Las Vegas Police officer spotted the stolen Tahoe in the city's downtown area. The officer tried to pull the driver over, but the Tahoe sped up, police reports state.

The 22-minute high-speed chase ended when the Tahoe smashed into a car at Vegas Drive at Decatur Boulevard about 2:30 a.m. The force of the collision killed Melia.

Miriam Quintana described her grandson as a beautiful person who always made everyone smile and who loved to bowl.

"He was not only a custodian at the school, but a counselor," Miriam Quintana said. "He always told the kids to be good and to stay in school."