By KEN RITTER, Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Two California men were indicted Friday on murder and other felony charges in a series of New Year’s weekend robberies and shootings on the Las Vegas Strip that left two people dead.
Jesani Carter and Jordan Ruby also face charges including attempted murder, armed robbery and conspiracy in the 13-count indictment filed in Clark County District Court.
Attorney Caitlyn McAmis, representing Carter, said her client planned to plead not guilty at an arraignment Feb. 16 in state court.
Ruby’s appointed attorney, Ed Kane, did not immediately respond to a message about the indictment.
Carter, 20, and Ruby, 18, are being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center.
Prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo has said their case may be considered for the death penalty.
The two men were arrested Dec. 31, hours before a Las Vegas Strip fireworks show that tourism officials said drew hundreds of thousands of New Year’s revelers.
A Las Vegas judge who last month ordered the two defendants held without bail said she believed they “came to town on the busiest weekend of the year to terrorize the community, to terrorize tourists.”
The indictment alleges the two drove from Southern California to Las Vegas and acted together to kill Clarice Yamaguchi, 66, of Waipahu, Hawaii, on Dec. 31 during a purse-snatching-turned-shooting in a parking garage at the Fashion Show mall.
It accuses them of robbing and killing Hyo Sup “Richard” Um, 60, a few hours later in a parking structure at Palace Station.
Police said Carter and Ruby also tried to rob an employee at the Sahara who said a gunman grabbed his backpack and fired a shot as the employee ran toward an elevator. That man was not hit by gunfire.
Security camera images and witnesses linked Carter and Ruby with a silver BMW sedan with a temporary California license tag seen at an armed robbery in a Wynn resort parking structure on Dec. 30.