Hearing delayed in Mesquite stabbings

Erica D. Johnson

Tuesday, March 4, 2003 | 11:27 a.m.

The preliminary hearing for the teenage siblings charged in a deadly Mesquite child stabbing was delayed Monday, while a Mesquite judge determines whether the 16-year-old defendant will be tried as an adult.

Beau Maestas, 19, and his 16-year-old sister, Monique, were expected to have their preliminary hearing this morning before Mesquite Justice of the Peace Ron Dodd.

But Dodd continued the proceedings Monday after Deputy Public Defenders Daren Richards and Howard Brooks filed a motion asking him to remand Monique Maestas to Juvenile Court.

Dodd is expected to announce his decision in a hearing tentatively scheduled for April 8.

The Maestas siblings face multiple charges, including murder, attempted murder and burglary charges, in the Jan. 22 attack on 3-year-old Kristyanna Cowan and her sister Brittney Bergeron, 10, in a trailer outside the CasaBlanca hotel.

Kristyanna Cowan died in the attack and Brittney Bergeron was paralyzed. The Maestas siblings face the death penalty.

Chief Deputy District Attorney David Schwartz called prosecutors' decision to try Monique Maestas as an adult "an easy issue."

While certain charges, such as the burglary charge, would usually be remanded to Juvenile Court because of her age, Nevada law requires she be certified as an adult due to the murder charges, he said.

"The burglary took place in the trailer where the murder occurred," Schwartz said. "So all the charges are related to the murder charge."

Defense attorneys on Monday also asked Dodd to prevent television cameras from filming the preliminary hearing. Prosecutors had no objection to media coverage, Schwartz said.

Dodd is expected to announce that ruling also in April.