Las Vegas teen tied to retired police chief’s death to get competency evaluation
By Noble Brigham Las Vegas Review-Journal
Jesus Ayala, 18, who with Jzamir Keys, 17, is accused of killing a former California police chief by deliberately crashing into him as he rode his bicycle while recording it on video, waits to appear in court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Jesus Ayala, 18, who with Jzamir Keys, 17, is accused of killing a former California police chief by deliberately crashing into him as he rode his bicycle while recording it on video, waits to appear in court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Jesus Ayala, 18, who with Jzamir Keys, 17, is accused of killing a former California police chief by deliberately crashing into him as he rode his bicycle while recording it on video, arrives in court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Jesus Ayala, 18, right, who with Jzamir Keys, 17, is accused of killing a former California police chief by deliberately crashing into him as he rode his bicycle while recording it on video, talks to his attorney while waiting to appear in court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Jesus Ayala, 18, who with Jzamir Keys, 17, is accused of killing a former California police chief by deliberately crashing into him as he rode his bicycle while recording it on video, appears in court at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
One of the two teens accused of killing a retired police chief in a hit-and-run will undergo a court-ordered competency evaluation, his attorney said Tuesday.
Jesus Ayala, 18, and Jzamir Keys, 17, were indicted in October on charges of murder, attempted murder, failing to stop at the scene of a crash, battery, residential burglary, grand larceny of a vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Ayala is accused of using a stolen vehicle to strike Andreas Probst, 66, as he rode his bicycle near Centennial Parkway, on Aug. 14, 2023. Keys filmed a video of the two teens laughing and planning to hit Probst, who was a retired police chief from Bell, California, police have said.
Chief Deputy Public Defender David Westbrook spoke with District Judge Jacqueline Bluth at a bench conference which those in the courtroom gallery could not hear.
Afterward, Bluth said she would order Ayala to undergo testing and evaluation by doctors.
Westbrook told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Ayala was interviewed by a neuropsychologist who determined he’s not competent to stand trial.
He said his client would be sent to competency court and be assessed by two evaluators.
