Pair plead guilty in DUI crash that killed their infant son
A Las Vegas couple have pleaded guilty for their roles in a high-speed, drunken, cocaine-fueled crash that left their infant son dead.
Lauren Prescia texted with Cameron Hubbard-Jones about drinking alcohol in the hours leading up to the child’s July 12 death at Rampart and Lake Mead boulevards, according to court records.
Prescia, 23, pleaded guilty late last week to driving under the influence resulting in death and child abuse, neglect or endangerment and faces between three and 26 years in prison. Hubbard-Jones, also 23, pleaded guilty to felony reckless driving, which carries a possible sentence of one to six years in prison.
Both initially faced second-degree murder charges, but in a decision in September the Nevada Supreme Court prohibited prosecutors from charging murder in DUI cases.
Las Vegas police said Prescia was driving 121 mph in an area with a 45 mph speed limit when she lost control of her car, causing the wreck that took the life of the couple’s son, Royce Jones.
After the crash, Prescia told police she’d had two White Claws. Her blood alcohol content, however, was measured at 0.176, more than twice the legal limit for drivers, according to court records. Prosecutors also said Prescia had cocaine in her system at the time of her arrest.
Police arrested Hubbard-Jones days later, contending that he was street racing with Prescia in the moments leading up to the child’s death.
Prosecutors said authorities obtained phone records tracking the couple throughout the day of the wreck that showed the two were on a 10-minute call when Prescia’s 2020 Hyundai Sonata slammed into a pole.
Hubbard-Jones was convicted of battery with substantial bodily harm and battery constituting domestic violence in a 2018 assault.
Police said Hubbard-Jones beat Prescia during an argument over Hubbard-Jones spending money at a strip club. A doctor told officers that Prescia “suffered a temporal fracture on the left side of her skull, a nasal fracture and various bruising across all around her face and body.”
A judge is scheduled to sentence the pair in November.
Contact David Ferrara at dferrara @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.
