A North Las Vegas judge has ruled that a jury will have to sort out whether a woman intentionally drove over her longtime partner’s head in a restaurant parking lot, killing him while a young child sat inside the SUV.
The victim, identified by authorities as 40-year-old Bryan Hicks, died after the confrontation outside an Olive Garden on East Craig Road. Prosecutors allege his head became lodged under a front tire; the driver, 40-year-old Andrea Roman, is jailed on an open murder charge as the case moves toward its next round of court dates.
Judge Sends Case To Jury
During Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, Justice of the Peace Kalani Hoo said there was “slight or marginal” evidence that the murder charge should be decided by a jury, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Prosecutors played dash-cam video they say shows Roman inching the vehicle forward three times, turning her wheel toward Hicks and then accelerating. A Clark County medical examiner testified that Hicks died of traumatic asphyxia after his head was pinned under a front tire.
Scene And Arrest
The collision unfolded in the Olive Garden parking lot on the 1200 block of East Craig Road, where bystanders recorded parts of the altercation and a witness provided dash-cam footage to investigators, according to police. Officers arrested Roman at the scene and say a 4-year-old child was in the back seat when Hicks was struck.
Roman and Hicks had been together for about 20 years and shared multiple children, according to earlier coverage from KLAS via Yahoo News.
Defense: She Says It Was An Accident
Roman’s attorney argues the crash was a tragic accident, saying she believed the SUV was in reverse. That claim comes from the arrest report and court filings previously obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In that earlier reporting, witnesses described Roman jolting the SUV forward several times before turning the wheel toward Hicks, after which he fell and became pinned under the tire.
What Comes Next
Under Nevada law, preliminary hearings are designed to determine whether there is just enough evidence, often described as “slight or marginal,” to send a felony case to District Court, as explained by Shouse Law Group.
In cases where a magistrate binds a defendant over, prosecutors move the case into the Eighth Judicial District for arraignment and a possible jury trial. Roman is scheduled to return to court Thursday, according to court reporting.
