A local judge on Monday ordered a Las Vegas woman to face trial on felony charges alleging she drove under the influence of alcohol and drugs when her car struck and killed two 16-year-old girls in a crosswalk.
Ebone Laneice Whitaker, 38, waived a preliminary hearing of evidence in the Aug. 3 crash and was scheduled for arraignment Wednesday in state court on charges of DUI causing death and felony reckless driving, records show. She remains jailed without bail.
Authorities say Whitaker’s vehicle went over a curb, struck a traffic sign, hit Nelly Amaya-Ramirez and Citlali Mora, knocked down a tree and crashed into a traffic signal pole at a busy intersection east of the Las Vegas Strip. Mora died at the scene. Amaya-Ramirez died at a hospital.
Two vehicles in a fast-food drive-thru line were struck by the falling tree.
Whitaker told police she drank two beers and smoked marijuana before getting into the car, and smoked a PCP-covered cigarette earlier in the day.
Court records show that Whitaker has faced drug-related charges in Las Vegas dating to 2007 and pleaded guilty to damaging a police vehicle by kicking out a patrol car window in 2004.