Eight months after Jose Benitez-Rodriguez was found shot to death inside a trailer near the Arts District, the death penalty trial of the man accused of killing him began this week in Las Vegas, with prosecutors and defense attorneys offering starkly different accounts of what happened that January night. Curtis Hart, now 34, is charged with open murder with a deadly weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a deadly weapon.
The prosecution portrayed Hart as a violent pimp who killed a customer, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The account described Busby meeting Benitez-Rodriguez at a trailer and apparently calling Hart. It also said the suspects left and that Busby held a phone.
The defense offered a competing narrative, arguing that Hart acted in self-defense. The account said Benitez-Rodriguez threatened the pair with a gun and a knife, and that Busby wanted to leave but Benitez-Rodriguez would not let her go. The account also said Benitez-Rodriguez paid Busby for sex, pressured her for more, tried to stop her from leaving and threatened her with a knife and gun.
Physical Evidence and a Contested Witness
Crime scene investigators recovered multiple realistic-looking pellet guns from inside the trailer, a detail the same Review-Journal report notes as central to the defense's claim that Benitez-Rodriguez brandished simulated weapons during the encounter. Hart is accused of shooting Benitez-Rodriguez multiple times inside the trailer, where the victim lived on the grounds of a pallet business.
Busby's role in the case is complicated by her own history in it. She was originally booked on charges of open murder with a deadly weapon, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Tanasi has questioned Busby's credibility. Tanasi also argued that another woman who accused Hart of sexual assault had consensual sex with him.
How the Case Reached Trial
The killing was first reported to police at 10:31 p.m. on January 13, when an acquaintance came to check on Benitez-Rodriguez at his place of employment and found him suffering from fatal gunshot wounds, per the department. Hart, who was already in custody on unrelated charges, was re-booked at the Clark County Detention Center on January 21. Initial reports also described the arrests of Hart and Busby in connection with the shooting.
The 200 block of West Utah Avenue, where the shooting occurred, is in the Arts District area, where the trailer where Benitez-Rodriguez lived was located. Hart is represented at trial by Tanasi and Jess Marchese; he had previously considered representing himself and invoked his right to a speedy trial.
A Death Penalty Case in a State That Rarely Executes
Hart's case is one of the relatively rare Clark County prosecutions in which the death penalty is on the table.
Even a death sentence rarely leads to an execution in Nevada. The state has not carried out an execution since Darryl Mack's death in 2006, according to the Corrections1. Nevada's more recent execution attempts, in 2018 and 2022, were both halted; the 2022 attempt ended amid ongoing legal disputes and procedural concerns. Death-penalty cases can also face appeals and challenges involving procedural errors or prosecutorial misconduct.
State lawmakers have taken note of the drawn-out process. In April 2025, the Nevada Senate passed Senate Bill 350, which sought to expand the required window between a judicial death sentence and an execution date from 60–90 days to 120–180 days, according to The Nevada Independent. The change was aimed at accommodating legal appeals and administrative preparation amid complaints from corrections officials and defense attorneys about compressed scheduling.
The Trafficking Charges Hart Faces
Separate from the homicide allegations, Hart also faces sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a child charges. Under Nevada Revised Statute 201.300, sex trafficking involving a minor is a Category A felony carrying life imprisonment with the possibility of parole and different minimum eligibility periods based on the child's age, according to FindLaw. The opening argument framed Busby as both a co-conspirator in the alleged robbery and an alleged victim of Hart's abuse. Tanasi countered by arguing that another woman who accused Hart of sexual assault had consensual sex with him.
The proceedings also included Hart speaking with his attorneys. With opening statements now delivered eight months after the January shooting, jurors are left to weigh two irreconcilable stories: a calculated robbery-turned-killing of a trafficking victim's client, or a desperate act of self-defense against a man armed with what looked like real weapons.
