Suspects in 2 fatal New Year’s Eve shootings appear in court
Two men facing murder charges appeared in court Tuesday following their arrests in connection with a pair of fatal shootings on New Year’s Eve that left a 50-year-old man and a 66-year-old woman dead.
Although Metropolitan Police Department investigators believe Jordan Ruby, 18, and Jesani Carter, 20, are responsible for the fatal shootings at Fashion Show mall and Palace Station, they currently face only one murder charge each, court records show.
“There are a number of incidents which appear to be related which are under investigation,” Ruby’s attorney, Edward Kane, said during the Tuesday morning hearing.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Harmony Letizia ordered to men to appear in court again on Monday.
Ruby and Carter both face charges of murder with a deadly weapon, attempted robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery, court records show.
The two were linked to a shooting at about 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Fashion Show mall, during which 66-year-old Clarice Yamaguchi, of Waipahu on the island of Oahu, was killed. She died at University Medical Center from a gunshot wound to the neck, the Clark County coroner’s office has said.
Metropolitan Police Department Lt. David Valenta has said Yamaguchi and her husband were exiting their vehicle in the Strip mall’s parking garage when a robber tried to steal something, possible a purse, from the woman. She was shot during a struggle.
Police also linked the men to a shooting that happened just after 6 p.m. Friday during another robbery attempt at the Palace Station parking garage. A man in his 50s was shot, and he died at University Medical Center, police said.
The coroner’s office has not identified the man as of Tuesday morning.
Ruby and Carter remained in the Clark County Detention Center, where they are being held without bail.
In an interview with the Review-Journal on Monday, Carter said he had been wrongly identified as one of the robbers involved in the crimes.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.
