Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

District court hearing set for woman charged in fatal shooting of cabdriver

Murry

Justin M. Bowen

Autumn Dawn Murry makes an appearance in Las Vegas Justice Court Tuesday, March 15, 2011.

A woman indicted by a grand jury in connection with the March 4 shooting death of a North Las Vegas taxi driver will be formally arraigned Wednesday morning in Clark County District Court.

However, Autumn Dawn Murry, 21, made a brief, but somewhat confusing, appearance this morning in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Murry, who is in the Clark County Detention Center charged in the death of Tesfaye Arze, 30, was brought to the courtroom of Justice of the Peace Melanie Tobiasson.

Murry's public defender, Norman Reed, explained to the judge that they were in court because Murry's preliminary hearing was still on the court calendar for today, although Murry had already been indicted last Thursday by a Clark County grand jury.

Several of the cabdriver's family members were in court this morning to see the proceeding.

So Tobiasson explained that today's planned evidenciary hearing in the lower court was being dismissed because it was no longer necessary.

"The DA's office has taken this case to the grand jury, so an indictment has been returned, so her next court date will be in district court," Tobiasson said.

She asked Reed if he knew the date for Murry's first district court appearance. But he said that Odyssey, the court's online calendar system, was not showing a date as of Monday night.

"It was returned last Thursday. This is very odd that it's not on the calendar. I don't have a date," Reed said.

That worried the judge.

"Well, my concern is that, if we dismiss this case number, she's going to get released," Tobiasson said.

"I can tell you for sure, judge, there was an indictment returned," Reed said. He said he had been notified both in writing and on the telephone about the grand jury indictment.

"I can't explain to the court why it's not showing in Odyssey, but there is a return," Reed said.

Meanwhile, Tobiasson's court staff told her they found the date for the Murry's first appearance.

The judge then relayed that time and place to Arze's family members: 9 a.m. Wednesday before District Judge Stefany Miley, in Courtroom 12C.

"When I say this case is dismissed, it does not mean the charges are dismissed," Tobiasson told the eight family members who were in the courtroom. "It just means they've gone another way to get the charges into district court, OK? I wanted to make that clear."

The grand jury indicted Murry on counts of burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, murder with use of a deadly weapon and two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon.

Arze was found dead from a gunshot to the head lying on the street outside his cab on March 4 on High Sierra Avenue in the northeast valley.

On March 11, Metro Police arrested Murry, one of two women believed to be shown in a surveillance camera in the cab prior to the shooting. Police still are searching for Felicia Mosely, 18, as a person of interest in the case.

Murry is also accused of robbing a Mini Mart at 4563 E. Russell Road shortly before 2:30 a.m., about an hour before Arze was shot.

After releasing surveillance video from the taxi, police received an anonymous tip that indicated the two women were involved in the shooting, and police later identified Murry as a suspect.

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