Teen’s death raises crosswalk questions

Ed Koch and Mary Manning

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2003 | 11:23 a.m.

When a car hit two Las Vegas teenage girls, 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 just west of the Desert Pines golf course or was crossing traffic outside those lines, Chavez said.

Bicknell's mother, Catherine Chavez, no relation to the Metro detective, said she was at the scene and watched Bicknell "cross in the crosswalk after waiting for two cars to go by" and saw the vehicle strike her daughter.

"My daughter did everything right," said Catherine Chavez, who today went to Desert Pines High School, where her daughter was a sophomore, to help comfort the girl's friends. "Cars are always speeding through that area. I have almost been hit there."

Chavez said she has not yet spoken to police.

Desert Pines High School Principal Roger Jacks said Clark County School District crisis grief counselors were on hand at the school today.

Bicknell took a Citizens Area Transit bus to a drop-off point near where she was killed, he said.

Catherine Chavez said she was waiting across the street for her daughter and watched her walk to the crosswalk.

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. She was discharged Sunday from University Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

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.

Detective 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, Detective Chavez said.

Even if it is determined that Bicknell was in the crosswalk, that does not necessarily 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."

No citations were immediately issued. The accident remains under investigation.

It was the 99th fatal traffic collision in Metro's jurisdiction this year. There were 128 fatal accidents in Metro's jurisdiction during 2002.