They Laughed as They Ran Down a Former Police Chief

Two Nevada men who were teenagers when they fatally struck a retired police chief with a car while recording video on a phone will spend much of the rest of their lives in prison. A Clark County judge on Tuesday sentenced 20-year-old Jesus Ayala to 20 years to life and 18-year-old Jzamir Keys to 18 years to life for the killing of 66-year-old Andreas "Andy" Probst, who was riding his bike in northwest Las Vegas on Aug. 14, 2023, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. Both had pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder with a deadly weapon in a deal that spared them trial.

Prosecutors say Keys, who was 16 at the time, was filming and Ayala, 17 at the time, was driving as the pair laughed and talked about hitting Probst before running him down and driving off. Judge Jacqueline Bluth told the defendants, "There is no excuse for what you two have done and the damage and pain that you have caused." Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani described the case as among the most shocking he's seen. He said the sentences are the maximum allowed under Nevada law for second-degree murder with a weapon, given that both were juveniles at the time. Because they were juveniles, they will be eligible for parole after 20 years.

Investigators said the pair targeted multiple other people during a crime spree in which they stole four cars, KSNV reports. "This was so much more than a joyride," the judge said. "It just kept going and going and escalating with more people getting hurt." As part of the plea deal, the two also admitted to battery with a deadly weapon for injuring two other men with a vehicle; Ayala received an additional two- to 10-year term on that charge. Ayala's public defender argued in court that the killing was not planned as a homicide and said his client is remorseful and accepted the plea to avoid putting the family through a trial. Both Ayala and Keys declined to speak at sentencing.

Probst, a former police chief in Bell, California, was remembered in emotional statements by his widow, Crystal, and their children as a calm, stabilizing presence and devoted family man whose absence will be felt at future milestones like weddings and grandchildren's births. "They stole the future we earned, moment by moment and year by year," Crystal Probst told the court. "And they've left the silence that nothing can replace. The pain they caused does not fade; it grows."