News briefs for December 9, 2004

Thursday, Dec. 9, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

Infant, grandma escape house fire

A grandmother and an infant escaped a house fire near Rancho Drive and Oakey Boulevard Wednesday morning, but damage displaced three adults and four children, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

Fire investigators ruled the blaze around 11 a.m. that caused an estimated $100,000 in damage an accident.

Firefighters were called to 2108 Bonnie Brae Ave. as smoke poured from a one-story brick house. The fire was in the kitchen and firefighters extinguished it within a few minutes, Szymanski said.

The grandmother told family members she was cooking and thought she shut off the stove to answer a telephone call. While she changed the infant's diaper after the call, she smelled smoke. A pan had caught fire and flames were licking the wooden cabinets.

The grandmother left the home with the infant and called firefighters from a neighbor's house.

The fire gutted the kitchen and caused damage to the living and dining rooms. The entire house had heavy smoke damage.

No one was injured and the American Red Cross is assisting the family.

Botzet's charges won't be joined

The woman charged with killing her diabetic daughter by depriving her of insulin will not have her murder charges consolidated with charges from another case.

District Judge Sally Loehrer ruled on Wednesday that Cheryl Botzet, also known as Cheryl Musso, won't be tried for both murder and the more recently filed charges of child abuse and neglect, acting with willful or wanton disregard for safety, and battery with a deadly weapon in the same trial.

The additional charges are currently the subject of a case before District Judge Valorie Vega, who was expected to set a trial date for Botzet this morning.

Cheryl Botzet faces the charge of murder for the death of 11-year-old Ariel Botzet from ketoacidosis, caused by untreated diabetes. That trial is scheduled for March.

Botzet is currently out of custody on $35,000 bail.

Clues sought in man's killing

Police are looking to talk to anybody who knew Benjamin Ridley to help solve his murder.

Ridley, 51, was found beaten to death Nov. 13 in his apartment near Harmon Avenue and Maryland Parkway, Metro Police reported.

"We're trying to find out if anybody out there knows him, knows where he hangs out, knows who he might associate with," said Metro Police Sgt. Rocky Alby.

He said Ridley likely knew his killer and police want to learn more about the details of his life.

Ridley had a membership card to the Gipsy nightclub and is believed to have been active in the gay community, Alby said.

Alby said police are trying to understand the motive for Ridley's murder. He said nothing appeared to have been stolen from Ridley's apartment.

"It could have been just that he was having a disagreement with anybody out there in the community," Alby said.

Anybody with information may call Metro Homicide at 229-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

Officer charged with child abuse

Authorities last month filed child abuse charges against a Metro Police officer who hit his 5-year-old stepson with a spatula in August.

John Beck was placed on leave with pay in early November and suspended without pay about two weeks later, when the Clark County district attorney's office filed the charges against him, Capt. Marc Joseph of the department's internal affairs section said.

Beck has not yet appeared in court.

A Henderson Police report says Beck, after the boy spit out some peas, hit the child on the buttocks, back, neck and arm, leaving bruises. A relative noticed the injuries and called police the next day.

Woman found dead is identified

North Las Vegas Police on Wednesday identified a mother found dead in the family's apartment as 34-year-old Felecia Crosby-Smith.

She was found dead Monday in the Buena Vista Springs apartment complex at 2531 Morton Ave., Officer Sean Walker, North Las Vegas Police spokesman, said.

Police were unable to locate her son, 4-year-old Denzel Crosby, who apparently lived at the residence, and started a highly publicized search for the boy. He was discovered staying with relatives on Tuesday.

The coroner's office is investigating the cause of the woman's death, Walker said.