News briefs for April 2, 2003

Wednesday, April 2, 2003 | 10:44 a.m.

Teen pleads guilty in fatal drive-by

Milton Ennis, 17, pleaded guilty Monday to murder charges stemming from a deadly drive-by shooting in North Las Vegas last year.

Ennis pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Tyrone Hammond, 21, outside the Cheyenne Condominium Apartments.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure is to sentence Ennis to 10 to 25 years on May 19, Deputy District Attorney Melissa De La Garza said. The sentence was stipulated as part of the plea agreement.

Prosecutors have alleged the shooting was gang-related, but De La Garza would not comment on whether Hammond was the intended target.

Deputy Special Public Defender Kristina Wildeveld, Ennis' attorney, was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

Ennis, who was 16 at the time of the crime, was charged as an adult under a state law that automatically transfers children 8 and older into the adult system when charged with a killing.

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped multiple charges, including murder with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm out of a vehicle with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang.

According to published reports, Ennis previously faced multiple felony counts in a deadly car crash in December 2001 that left two teens dead.

Police say Ennis, then 14, had stolen a car and took it on a high-speed chase that ended in a three-car collision.

Chillier weather plunges into valley

As Tuesday's high temperature of 83 degrees lulled the Las Vegas Valley into thinking it was spring, today brought chillier weather, the National Weather Service said.

A strong cold system plunged from the Pacific Northwest into Southern Nevada overnight, meteorologist Larry Jensen said.

"You will see a radical change in temperatures," Jensen said.

Temperatures, which have been up to 10 degrees above normal, will drop 10 to 15 degrees through the weekend, he said.

No rain is predicted for the storm system, but it is packing plenty of winds, Jensen said.

Winds were expected to pick up to as strong as 35 mph.

By Thursday daytime temperatures will struggle into the 60s, with a low of 43 degrees predicted for Friday.

Some clouds will accompany the windy, cooler weather.

Las Vegas attorney suspended

The Nevada Supreme Court gave Las Vegas attorney Ulrich Smith a 90-day suspension Monday in connection with a case that dates back two years.

Smith was initially charged by the state Bar Association with bouncing three checks from a trust account and failing to respond to association's disciplinary committee to answer the allegations.

He was then sanctioned by the Nevada Supreme Court with a $250 fine for failing to file timely briefs in an appeal of a criminal conviction of Lonnie Dennis.

The bar association ordered Smith to attend legal education classes, seek psychological counseling, pay his fine and make his trust account records available for inspections.

Smith failed to fulfill the conditions and the association recommended the 90-day suspension, which the court accepted.