An eyewitness to the Sept. 7 shooting that left a 9-year-old North Las Vegas girl dead identified a handcuffed and jail-clothed Pascual Lozano as the shooter in North Las Vegas Justice Court on Tuesday.
But the 17-year-old witness, who testified with the aid of an interpreter, could not pick Lozano out of the police photo lineup the teen saw within days of the shooting, he said.
A fingerprint found on a car used to leave the scene matched Lozano's right index finger, Gerald Heredia, of the North Las Vegas Police Department testified. But in response to defense attorney questioning, Heredia said there is no way to determine how long the fingerprint was there.
The evidence presented so far at the preliminary hearing to determine whether Lozano will stand trial in District Court for Genesis Gonzalez' death and other charges is weak, Special Public Defender Dayvid Figler said after the hearing.
There is plenty of evidence, Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane said.
Justice of the Peace Natalie Tyrrell will decide next week after listening to the testimony of an alleged gang member who Kane said was the intended target of the shooting.
A bench warrant was issued for Robert Valentine, the alleged gang member, who appeared for the hearing but left before he could be called to the witness stand. The testimony will be heard Tuesday, unless Valentine is found sooner.
Tyrrell also set $1 million bail for Lozano, which Figler said he would not be able to post.
Figler said based on the ID prosecutors have and the fingerprint, Tyrrell should dismiss the case.
"Only after seeing (Lozano's) picture in the newspaper can (the witness) identify him," Figler said after the hearing. "You just can't make someone go to trial with a fingerprint from outside a car and a bad ID."
Figler said Lozano is being held because of his criminal history, while Lozano's aunt said her nephew is being singled out because he is Mexican.
But Kane said, "He's being held because he was the only one ID'd by witnesses."
Kane said that while the defense says the case is weak, he has an eyewitness who identified Lozano and who gave police the license plate number of the car the shooter left in.
In addition, police testified that Lozano was arrested near that car and during the arrest Lozano did not respond to a police officer's orders, which prompted the officer to draw his gun. Kane also told Tyrrell that Lozano went to prison for a conviction in a similar shooting case several years ago.
Kane said Valentine was the intended target of the shooting and will testify the shooting happened after he flashed gang signs to members of a rival gang. Kane said Valentine will not identify anyone as the shooter because he did not see the shooter.
Police and Kane allege Lozano was shooting at Valentine, a rival gang member, but instead hit 9-year-old Genesis and her younger sister, Heidi, in the 3400 block of Civic Center Drive.
One bullet hit Genesis in the chest, killing her, Dr. Rexene Worrell of the Clark County coroner's office testified.
Heidi showed Tyrrell where the bullet hit her thigh.
The 17-year-old witness, who asked cameras not be present during his testimony because he feared retribution, testified, "I just saw the one guy (who) took the shot. Then he got into the car and left."
The teen wrote down the license plate number of the green Ford Taurus and gave the number to police.
Metro Police Officer Eric Grimmesey testified that he saw the car the night of the shooting at the Walnut Gardens apartment complex and saw four people walking away from the vehicle.
While Grimmesey was waiting for more officers to arrive, he saw the four suspects split up, so he got out of his car and went after Lozano, he said.
He testified Lozano did not respond to commands, so Grimmesey pulled his weapon, forced Lozano to the ground and arrested him.
Initially four men, including Lozano, were arrested in connection with the shooting. But charges against the other three were dropped within two weeks of the shooting due to lack of evidence.
archive