Mom accused of trying to run down middle schoolers must stand trial

A Las Vegas judge ruled on Wednesday that a woman accused of hitting a group of middle schoolers with her car will face battery and assault charges.

Jaquitta Madison, 36, was arrested after she got into a fight with another mother and a middle school student near Silvestri Junior High School on Dec. 3, 2021, and then struck multiple children with her car, police said.

During a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, Justice of the Peace Joseph Bonaventure ruled that there was enough evidence for Madison to stand trial in District Court.

Madison is facing five counts of battery with a deadly weapon, and prosecutors charged her on Wednesday with an additional four counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

She told police that she had approached the mother of a child who had been bullying her son at the middle school. Several witnesses said Madison then began fighting with the mother, demanded that the other boy fight her son, and got into a fight with a third child who approached to break up the altercation, according to a Metropolitan Police Department report.

The third child, 14-year-old Lincoln Aso, testified on Wednesday that he was walking to a nearby gym where he trained in mixed martial arts when he saw his friend involved in the argument with Madison and her son.

Lincoln said that after trying to break up the fight, he punched Madison multiple times and “blacked out.”

“She swung on me, and I swung on her,” the teen said.

Madison’s defense attorney, Philip Singer, argued that Lincoln was the aggressor during the fight. He said the teen knocked Madison to the ground, and when she got back into her car, he reached through the window to punch her in the face.

“I think this is kind of a case of the wrong person being arrested,” Singer said.

Lincoln said he punched Madison’s car as she drove away, and the car scraped his leg.

A 13-year-old girl said Madison ran over her foot, a 12-year-old girl said she was hit in the leg, and a 14-year-old girl said the car “bumped” her on her side.

Madison then rear-ended the back of Michael Howell’s car, and Howell got out of his vehicle to confront her. Howell testified on Wednesday that Madison drove away and hit him in the right side of his body with her car.

Several children told police they heard kids screaming “she’s got a gun” during the altercation, but Singer argued that video of the fight did not show a gun. Singer also argued that video of Madison driving away did not clearly show her hitting any of the children.

“My client was really just trying to get out of the way. That was her main intent,” Singer said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Kristina Rhoades argued that Madison intended to hit Howell to get away from the scene and intentionally tried to strike at least one of the children in the group of middle schoolers.

Bonaventure said a jury should decide whether the evidence showed that Madison intended to strike any of the children. The judge ordered her to appear in District Court on Sept. 7.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.