Driver who plowed into Las Vegas crowd due for first court appearance

By Alexia Shurmur
LAS VEGAS, Dec 23 (Reuters) - An Oregon woman accused of
plowing her car into a crowd on the Las Vegas Strip, killing one
person and injuring dozens, was due to make her first court
appearance on Wednesday to face charges that include murder.
Lakeisha Holloway, 24, who police said had her 3-year-old
daughter with her in the car at the time, has been charged with
one count of murder through use of a deadly weapon in the death
of a 32-year-old Arizona woman who was among the pedestrians
struck by the car.
Holloway has been detained without bond since her arrest
shortly after Sunday's incident, which happened near Planet
Hollywood, where the Miss Universe beauty pageant was being
held.
She was being held in a "medically restricted" jail unit set
aside for inmates requiring increased supervision, including
those on suicide watch, according to Las Vegas police spokesman
Michael Rodriguez.
She has also been charged with child abuse or neglect, and
with leaving the scene of a collision, according to the criminal
complaint filed in Clark County court.
District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he expected additional
charges to be brought against Holloway, describing the incident
as a "horrendous and inexcusable act."
Authorities said Holloway had been living in her car with
her daughter in Las Vegas for about a week and had been driving
on a suspended Oregon license.
Police said Holloway repeatedly drove her automobile onto
the sidewalk, ramming pedestrians and street posts as bystanders
pounded on the windows and tried to pull open her car door to
stop her. According to a police report, she then drove about a
mile away on a flat tire, parked and asked a hotel employee to
call police before surrendering.
Three victims remained hospitalized in critical condition on
Tuesday and two were in serious condition, an area hospital
said.
Holloway, a former part-time U.S. Forest Service employee,
told detectives she had been trying to sleep in her car earlier
on Sunday but became stressed when she was repeatedly chased off
by security guards, the police report said.
Holloway may have stopped in Las Vegas en route to Texas,
where her daughter's father lives, and the couple may have
quarreled, according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Sheriff
Joe Lombardo. He said it was otherwise unclear what might have
"caused her to snap."
In 2012, Holloway received an award from an Oregon
career-mentoring organization, the Portland Opportunities
Industrialization Center, for being a role model to high school
students.

(Writing by Steve Gorman)