Woman arrested after Las Vegas crash that killed 2 children
A woman has been arrested after a crash involving a stolen car left two children dead Friday, police said.
Nikki Serrat, 32, of Las Vegas, was booked Saturday into the Clark County Detention Center on suspicion of reckless driving and fleeing the scene of a crash, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Serrat was the driver of a stolen 2014 Lexus GS350 that sped through a red light and plowed into a 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander near East Flamingo Road and Pecos-McLeod Interconnect at 5:13 p.m., police said.
Police said Serrat fled the scene on foot, leaving two injured passengers in that car.
Two passengers in the Mitsubishi, Taliyah Lewis, 6, and Dante Lewis, 11, died from blunt force injuries, the Clark County coroner’s office said Tuesday morning.
The two other children in the car, identified in a GoFundMe campaign as Amara, 8, and Kyrie, 10, suffered injuries.
“These kids deserved everything; they didn’t even get a chance to start their life. They loved going to school and hanging out with each other,” the campaign, organized by Arely Castro, reads. “Taliyah wanted to be a music teacher, and Dante wanted to be a famous streamer. We don’t have much family out here, so all they had was each other.”
Court records show that Serrat has a criminal history; her charges, which date back to 2009, include possession of a stolen vehicle, attempted grand larceny of a motor vehicle, and operating a vehicle chop shop.
In August of this year, according to documents filed in District Court, Serrat was sentenced to a maximum of two years probation after pleading guilty to attempted unauthorized absence constituting escape from prison. Clark County Detention Center online records show that, since the crash, a hearing to revoke Serrat’s probation has been scheduled for Nov. 19.
The impact of Friday’s crash flung the Mitsubishi northwest, causing it to hit a 2018 Honda Civic and a 2013 Cadillac SRX that were stopped at a red light.
The children’s deaths occured in addition to seven other traffic deaths in the Las Vegas Valley between last Wednesday through Sunday. The number of fatalities in Metro’s jurisdiction in 2024 was 138.
At the end of October and before this deadly week, the Nevada Department of Public Safety reported that 335 people had died from traffic-related incidents in 2024, marking a 2.5 percent increase from 2023.
The month of October had 42 fatal crashes, which tied January for the highest number in any one month, according to the report.
In response to traffic’s high death toll, Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill has called for the state to adopt red-light and speed cameras, which he hopes will reduce crashes. The decision could go to the state Legislature in 2025.
Following is a list of the other recent fatal crashes:
Sunday
On Sunday night, a pedestrian died in a crash on Interstate 15 northbound at Cheyenne Avenue. The victim, a woman, was confirmed dead at the scene, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol.
Friday
In addition to the two children who died on Friday evening, a motorcyclist died on West Bonanza Road, north of Tonopah Drive, on Friday night, according to police. Deaundray Gaston, 51, was riding with a group when he sped up and crashed into a raised curb median, flying into the air before landing back on the road, police said. He died of blunt force injuries, the coroner’s office said.
Thursday
A 50-year-old woman died Thursday morning after a stolen, speeding vehicle crashed into hers. Andrea Leonard died of blunt force injuries, the coroner’s office said. The crash was at the intersection of South Buffalo Drive and West Desert Inn Road, according to Metro Lt. Jeff Dean.
Last Wednesday
On Nov. 6 alone, four fatal crashes were reported.
In the evening, a woman was killed in a crash in which police said they later arrested the other driver on a DUI charge. The crash was on Hualapai Way, just north of Flamingo Road. The victim, a 51-year-old woman, died at University Medical Center. Police arrested the other driver, Michelle Cardenas, 29, of Huntington Park, California.
A 92-year-old man was walking outside of a crosswalk in the afternoon when he was struck and killed at West Desert Inn and South Fort Apache roads. He was identified as Ion Neata by the coroner’s office. He died of blunt force trauma.
Another pedestrian was killed that morning after she was hit by a semitruck near East Cheyenne Avenue and North Pecos Road. The victim, later identified as 44-year-old Marissa Cabrera, was picking up some belongings she dropped in front of the semitruck when the light changed to green and she was hit, according to police. The driver of the semi-truck showed no signs of impairment, police said.
That same morning, a motorcyclist later identified as 33-year-old Xavier Conant died after being hit by a car near the intersection of Meade Avenue and Sheridan Street, in the area of South Valley View Boulevard and Pennwood Avenue, according to police.
A previous version of this story misstated the ages of the two children killed in a Friday crash.
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X. Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinsonreports on Instagram. Review-Journal staff reporter Akiya Dillon contributed to this report.