Teen to be tried as an adult

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Friday, March 25, 2005 | 9:58 a.m.

In ruling that a 16-year-old should go to trial as an adult charged with murder, kidnapping, robbery and burglary, a justice of the peace said Thursday that the evidence indicated the teen had been "on a tear."

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace James Bixler said there was plenty of evidence against Michael Lavelle Scott Jr. so he should be arraigned before District Judge Jackie Glass on March 31.

Nevada law requires anyone 8 or older who is charged with murder or attempted murder to be tried as an adult unless a judge rules otherwise.

Scott allegedly attacked a group of four men at the Reid Manor Apartments along with an accomplice on Oct. 2, killing Raul Melgarejo.

Aside from the murder charge Scott faces 20 additional charges, which include multiple counts of first-degree kidnapping, robbery, burglary all with use of a deadly weapon.

Court paperwork shows Scott's most recent felony delinquent adjudication was June 10 for being under the influence of a controlled substance

Over the course of Scott's two-day preliminary hearing, which started last week, several individuals identified Scott as the person who committed several robberies and shot Melgarejo, but it's unclear how they were able to make the identification.

From the victim's 28-year-old brother Victor Melgarejo to several individuals present at a Terrible Herbst gas station at 2178 Tropicana Avenue, all testified the culprits were two black males who wore bandanas on their face and hoods over their heads.

Essentially all of the witnesses said they identified Scott by recognizing the portion of his face from the bridge of his nose up to his hairline.

Special Public Defender Scott Bindrup, who pressed several witnesses last week about how they could possibly identify Scott under the circumstances, continued to do the same to Dion Rogan on Thursday. Rogan was a customer at the Terrible Herbst the day prosecutors allege Scott held it up.

Rogan said while Scott did have much of his face and head covered by the bandana and hood, he said Scott's eyes and eyebrows stuck out in his mind. He also said he remembered the clothing the perpetrator was wearing and it matched the clothing Scott was wearing when Rogan identified him to police the same day.