Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Teens plead not guilty in Basic High teacher’s death

The two teenagers accused of killing Basic High School choir teacher Matthew Cox pleaded not guilty today during an arraignment in District Court.

Jose Delatorre, 18, and Juan Aguirre, 17, each face six charges including murder, robbery, burglary and kidnapping in the death of Cox on Dec. 22. A jury trial was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 9.

Both were arrested by Henderson Police on Dec. 23, and Aguirre is being tried as an adult. They are being held at Clark County Detention Center without bail.

Family members of both defendants were present at today’s arraignment, although none would comment on the case. Delatorre’s attorney, Andrea Luem, described her client as a young man who is “scared.”

“It’s premature for me to discuss the case, but eventually the public will know what really happened that night,” Luem said.

Delatorre and Aguirre were picked up by Cox on Dec. 22 and taken back to his house, where they played video games, according to police reports.

After a while, the 32-year-old Cox drove the two back to their home in downtown Las Vegas. Aguirre later told police that when they stopped in front of the home, Delatorre struck Cox in the head and they both choked the teacher, according to police reports.

Police allege the brothers drove Cox’s 2007 Volkswagen back to Cox’s Henderson home, where they left his body on a sofa, and stole a laptop computer, an iPod, DVDs and a Wii console from the home.

Aguirre told police, according to the statement, that he and Delatorre wanted to rob Cox and did not mean to kill him.

Jeff O’Brien can be reached at 990-8957 or [email protected].

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