Woman indicted in DUI death

Monday, Nov. 10, 2003 | 9:17 a.m.

A young woman charged in a DUI death will be arraigned this week in District Court.

Nicole Marie Damiano, 22, was indicted Friday by a grand jury on one felony count of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor, causing death.

Damiano had a 0.18 blood alcohol level almost two hours after her 1999 GMC broadsided Leslie Mayo's 1986 Chevrolet on June 9, Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson said. Mayo died at the hospital shortly afterward from injuries related to the accident, he said.

Nelson said Damiano's blood alcohol level was probably over 0.20 when she failed to yield when turning left from Bridger Avenue eastbound onto northbound Las Vegas Boulevard. Authorities believe she was also speeding because she struck Mayo's car so hard it pushed the vehicle four feet to the side.

"She hit it not only hard enough to move the car but to kill the victim as well," Nelson said.

Mayo's bail was set at $200,000. She has two additional charges pending against her, one for a battery before the DUI and one for a malicious destruction of property two months after the incident, Nelson said. The subsequent charges "may indicate an alcohol problem," Nelson said, because such charges usually involve someone under the influence of alcohol.