Retired Las Vegas police officer found guilty in 2019 slaying

After a six-day trial, a Clark County jury on Thursday returned a guilty verdict in the murder trial of a retired Metropolitan Police Department detective who killed her former son-in-law at her home five years ago.

Pamela Bordeaux — who had been out of custody since she was released on a $1 million bail shortly after the fatal shooting in April 2019 — was taken into custody after being declared guilty of one count of murder in the shooting of Sean Babbitt, 32.

Defense attorney Erick Ferran had asked District Court Judge Carli Kierny to leave Bordeaux, 60, on house arrest until her Aug. 20 sentencing, which she will hand down after Bordeaux decided on the spot against being sentenced by the jury.

The jury deliberated its decision for two hours Tuesday and for about another hour Thursday.

After Bordeaux learned her fate, she handed her purse, jewelry and a scarf to family members sitting directly behind her. She asked a court marshal to handcuff her out of view, which he declined to do.

Prosecutors argued that Bordeaux intentionally shot Babbitt at the end of his hourlong visit with his 3-year-old son at her home. A medical examiner testified that the man’s body had 11 bullet entry wounds.

Prosecutors told the jury this week that Bordeaux was distraught because Babbitt had asked for a modification to his son’s custody.

After his ex-wife, Erika Babbitt, was granted full custody of the child, the father had been allowed to visit him an hour a week for three years, visits that were conducted at Bordeaux’s home.

Ferran argued that Bordeaux had opened fire in self-defense, while Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Fleck countered that the grandmother had acted with malice.

“What the evidence proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, is that Pamela Bordeaux acted as judge, jury and literal executioner in a custody matter,” Fleck said during closing arguments.

Members of Babbitt’s family also attended Thursday’s conviction. They hugged outside the courtroom after Bordeaux was hauled off in handcuffs.

They and Fleck declined comment when approached by journalists.

Ferran told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he expects an appeal and the conviction to be overturned.

“I don’t want truth and justice shrouded in secrecy,” he said.

Bordeaux was a retired Metro officer who had served 23 years, and she had also spent four years in the Army.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.