Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Pedestrian fatal raises crosswalk questions

When two Las Vegas teenage girls were hit by a car, killing one of them as they crossed a street in Southern Highlands in mid-October, there was no crosswalk, creating a community uproar for the installation of one.

When 15-year-old Ashlee Marie Bicknell of Las Vegas was killed Monday night while crossing Bonanza Road at Wardelle Street, Metro Police traffic investigators were given another dilemma.

Was there a legal crosswalk there or not?

"There was an outline of a crosswalk -- either it was faded or had been ground down," Metro Traffic Detective Oscar Chavez said today. "We are trying to determine whether the crosswalk had been removed or was in the process of being repainted."

Adding to the mystery is whether Bicknell was between the lines of the faded crosswalk or was crossing traffic outside those lines, Chavez said.

The incident is reminiscent of the Oct. 15 accident in which 13-year-old Adriana Lauzon was hit by a car at the intersection of Robindale and Torrey Pines in Southern Highlands. She died Oct. 21 from her injuries.

A day after the accident, angry area residents created a makeshift crosswalk with tape, but Metro Police forced them to remove the illegal lines. The accident also critically injured Tabatha Speas, also 13.

In Monday's 5:45 p.m. accident, Geoffrey DuFrene, 27, of Las Vegas, was driving his Ford pickup truck westbound on Bonanza. Bicknell tried to cross from the curb, police and witnesses said.

DuFrene tried to avoid her, but could not, police said.

Chavez said today that although six to eight cars were in the area at the time, just two drivers stopped, DuFrene and a witness who was two cars behind him. Neither could say whether Bicknell was in the crosswalk.

Evidence at the scene does not shed any light on the mystery, Chavez said.

Chavez said he would like to question other drivers who may have seen the accident. He asks that they call 229-3342 to provide statements to police.

The witness who did stop said the cars were traveling 35 to 38 mph when Bicknell tried to beat the traffic across the street, Chavez said.

Even if it is determined that Bicknell was in the crosswalk, that does not put the driver at fault, Chavez said, noting that pedestrians have a responsibility "to make sure it is safe to enter the crosswalk. If that happens, it is then a driver's responsibility to stop."

Bicknell was taken by ambulance to University Medical Center, where she later died from her injuries.

DuFrene was not injured.

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