Serrano-Villagrana convicted in bus stop death

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 | 8:46 a.m.

A man was convicted Tuesday of being drunk and on drugs when he crashed his truck into a Las Vegas bus stop, killing a 4-year-old boy and hospitalizing the child's mother.

It took a Clark County jury less than two hours to find Nicolas Serrano-Villagrana guilty of three counts of felony DUI causing substantial bodily harm and/or death for the May 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.

Serrano-Villagrana, a Mexican immigrant, looked at the jury and leaned close to his interpreter as she translated the jury foreman's guilty verdict.

Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson, who had called the case a "simple" one to prove, commended the jury for returning a guilty verdict.

"The jury came to the logical conclusion after hearing the testimony and looking at the evidence," Nelson said. "He was the driver of the car."

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.

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.

Although Nelson pointed to three witnesses who testified to seeing Serrano-Villagrana in the driver's seat immediately after the crash, during closing arguments he said realizing Serrano-Villagrana was the driver required nothing more than common sense.

He asked the jury why anyone else would be driving the truck Serrano-Villagrana owned.

"When I left here last night I didn't drive home in the bailiff's car, the judge's car or the court reporter's car; I drove home in my car," Nelson said. "The truck belonged to him (Serrano-Villagrana) and he was driving it."

Nelson said Serrano-Villagrana's story that he was the passenger and three witnesses with nothing to gain by saying he was the driver were wrong made him think of a story his father told him as a child.

"My father used to tell me a story about two women watching a parade where troops were marching," Nelson said. "One of the women turns to the other and says 'all of the soldiers are out of step but my son.' He (Serrano-Villagrana) is doing the same thing saying everyone here is wrong but me."

Nelson said he would seek the maximum penalty for Serrano-Villagrana at his Feb. 17 sentencing before District Judge Joe Bonaventure. Each count is punishable by two to 20 years in prison. If each count were run consecutively, that could amount to six to 60 years of prison time.

"He killed an innocent 4 year-old boy and he deserves the maximum penalty for it," Nelson said.

Singer said Serrano-Villagrana was a victim of poor police work. He said Metro Police interviewed only two people at the scene of the crash and arrested Serrano-Villagrana based on their stories.

"They had to blame someone for the death of a 4-year-old and they couldn't blame the police even though they didn't investigate this case hard enough," Singer said. " He was the only person left in the truck, the real driver ran, and now he's paying for it."

Singer said the actual driver of the truck was a man Serrano-Villagrana had met at a bar earlier on the day of the crash. He said after the crash the driver fled the scene.

Singer said he would argue for three two- to five-year sentences to run concurrent because the "crime is not an intended crime." He said the jury found him "negligent" but not that he intended to kill anyone.

During closing arguments, Singer said there was no physical evidence to suggest Serrano-Villagrana was the driver and issuing a guilty verdict in this case would be like "buying a used car without taking it to a mechanic."

He said while some jurors might be inclined to think a not-guilty verdict would fail to provide justice for the loss of a little boy's life, he said it would because it would tell police they must do a better job investigating cases.

"A not-guilty verdict will tell the detectives they did a sloppy job," Singer said. "A little boy is dead and you did a sloppy job. How many witnesses did you interview, what is the proof?"

Earlier on Tuesday Eulogia Avendano cried through her testimony, recounting the little she remembered from the day of the crash.

She said she never saw what crashed into the bus stop.

"Suddenly I just fell and heard a crash," Avendano said through an interpreter. "I could not move and I wanted to look for my son because I could not see him."

Avendano said she spent 31 days in the hospital after suffering fractures to both feet, but when asked if she still feels pain from the injuries she said, "Yes, my soul hurts."

Singer called two witnesses on Tuesday who said they never saw Serrano-Villagrana in the driver's seat of his truck.

Juan Contreras, a maintenance worker at an apartment complex adjacent to the scene of the crash, said he heard, but didn't see, the crash.

Contreras said when he arrived on the scene roughly three minutes after the incident he approached Serrano-Villagrana and asked him if "he was the one driving." He said Serrano-Villagrana said "no, it was a friend of his."

Juan Lopez, who lived at the same apartment complex, said he was lying on his couch when he heard the crash. He said he rushed to the window and saw a "gentleman in a white shirt by the passenger door."

Singer and Nelson agree Serrano-Villagrana was wearing a white shirt and cowboy hat the day of the incident.

Lopez's testimony contradicted that of the prosecution's key witness, Celia Ortiz, who testified Monday she was driving along Eastern Avenue with her husband and two children when she witnessed the crash.

Ortiz said that after the crash her husband slowed down the car and she leapt out and started running to the scene. She said as she ran by the driver's side door of the truck she stopped for between five and 10 seconds and "screamed foul language at the occupants."

She 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.