Lakeisha Holloway, now known as Paris Paradise Morton, pleaded guilty last Friday to second-degree murder and battery with a deadly weapon in connection with a 2015 crash on the Las Vegas Strip. On December 20, 2015, she drove onto a sidewalk near Planet Hollywood with her 3-year-old child in the car, killing 32-year-old Jessica Valenzuela of Arizona and injuring 37 others, as reported by 8 News Now.
Valenzuela, who had recently moved from Colorado to Buckeye, Arizona, was visiting Las Vegas with her husband when she died, leaving behind three children. According to Pastor Artie Woodcox of First Southern Baptist Church of Buckeye, she had recently started attending weekly Bible study classes. The case was delayed for nearly 10 years as Lakeisha Holloway underwent multiple mental health evaluations that found her unfit for trial. During the proceedings, Holloway said she experienced a mental breakdown following personal losses, job loss, and attempts to leave the Church of Scientology.
Morton, formerly known as Lakeisha Nicole Holloway, expressed remorse during Friday’s hearing, telling the court, “I wish I could rewind the hands of time,” as per Review Journal. She faces a sentence of 18 years to life in prison, with credit for time served. The 2015 attack also led to major security upgrades on the Las Vegas Strip, where Clark County officials installed cement bollards and later expanded protections with thousands of barriers built to stop high-speed vehicle collisions.
Las Vegas strengthened security on the Strip after past vehicle attacks, including a 2005 incident near Bally’s that killed three people and the 2015 crash that left one dead and dozens injured. Officials say the bollards and barriers now in place reflect lessons learned from both local tragedies and international attacks involving vehicles. Visitors have expressed confidence in the measures, with Alan Glen of California saying, “I feel pretty safe because those bollards will stop vehicles,” as mentioned by Yahoo. Holloway’s sentencing is set for September 25, and for Jessica Valenzuela’s family and other victims, the plea agreement brings closure to a case that lasted nearly a decade, as noted by KTNV.
