Bus-stop death draws 40 years

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005 | 10:57 a.m.

A man was sentenced to 12 to 40 years in prison this morning for being drunk and on drugs when he crashed his truck into a Las Vegas bus stop, killing a 4-year-old boy and injuring the child's mother.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure said because of the actions of Nicolas Serrano-Villagrana, "the community is once again victimized by the perils of drunk driving" as he sentenced the undocumented Mexican immigrant for the May 3 crash that killed Angel Avendano and left the boy's 32-year-old mother, Eulogia Avendano, and a second woman, Nijailia Altitijka Graves, with injuries.

Bonaventure said although Serrano-Villagrana, in a prepared statement, asked the court for mercy and the minimum sentence for his crime, he failed to take responsibility for his actions even after a Clark County jury convicted him.

"You (Serrano-Villagrana) ask for mercy, but you don't even apologize to the family," Bonaventure said. "I hope every day you are in prison you keep in mind the dead boy you killed."

In addressing the court, Serrano-Villagrana maintained his innocence, saying a person he had met a week prior to the incident was driving his truck that day.

The central issue during the two-day trial wasn't if Serrano-Villagrana was legally drunk or had cocaine in his system at the time of the crash, but rather whether he was the man behind the wheel or it was another person who is still at large.

A husband and wife who pulled their car over after witnessing the crash said the person behind the steering wheel was a man with a mustache wearing a white cowboy hat and white shirt. That description matched photos taken of Serrano-Villagrana at the time of his arrest that day. They both saw another individual who was fleeing, but said that person exited the truck from the passenger side door.

Serrano-Villagrana's attorney, Philip Singer, at trial conceded Serrano-Villagrana had a blood-alcohol content of 0.20 percent -- 2.5 times the legal limit in Nevada -- and he had cocaine in his system at the time of the crash on Eastern Avenue near U.S. 95.

On the day of the crash police said witnesses pointed out Serrano-Villagrana as the driver and told police they saw him throw an 18-pack of Bud Light out of the truck

"I know I was found guilty and can't show I was not guilty because I don't know the person who was driving, I don't know their full name," Serrano-Villagrana said.

Singer supported his client, saying "there is a chance that my client has maintained his innocence because it's the truth, the jury had no one else to blame."

Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson rejected Serrano-Villagrana's plea for mercy from Bonaventure.

"The defendant (Serrano-Villagrana) is going to ask for mercy, but what has he done to deserve mercy?" Nelson said. "You have to earn mercy."

Nelson successfully argued for a harsh sentence for Serrano-Villagrana, hoping it might send a message to others thinking about driving drunk.

"Maybe, just maybe, the next drunk sitting in a bar thinking about driving home will not do so," Nelson said.

The prosecutor said Serrano-Villagrana, who had a prior DUI conviction, failed to learn his lesson. Serrano-Villagrana was convicted of a drunken driving charge in 2002 in North Las Vegas.

Eulogia Avendano decided not to address the court in person Thursday, but instead wrote Bonaventure a letter.

The judge was impressed with the mother who lost her child in the crash, saying although she was devastated by the loss, "she leaves it up to God as divine law and the judge as a representative of the law of the people" to decide Serrano-Villagrana's fate.

Bonaventure said Avendano was a "good person" who was torn between the loss of her child and punishing Serrano-Villagarana too severely. He said she could neither "absolve nor condemn" Serrano-Villagrana for what happened.