‘Can he sit in jail?’ Father of crash victims confronts judge, attorney
A man who said he was the father of two young children killed in a Henderson crash that prosecutors have blamed on a drunken driver challenged a judge in court Wednesday, then confronted and followed the defendant’s lawyer outside the courthouse after the hearing.
Darryl Smith faces charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving with death or bodily harm resulting for the Jan. 7 crash that killed Rebecca Post, 38, Achilles Quintanilla, 6, and Leo Post-Quintanilla, 5, at Lake Mead Parkway and Grand Cadence Drive. Prosecutors said Smith had double the legal blood alcohol level.
Smith posted bail, which was set at $255,000, on Feb. 28 and was released from custody. In Henderson Justice Court on Wednesday, Senior Judge David Gibson ordered a new hearing for August.
But before he could move on to the next case, a voice in the gallery piped up. “Can he sit in jail until then?” a man, who said he was the father of the two children killed, asked the judge.
The hearing, docketed simply as a court appearance, ended quickly. Smith did not appear, but his attorney, Thomas Moskal, said the district attorney’s office had made an offer Monday that he needed to discuss with Smith.
“Killed three people and on bail,” the father, who did not provide his name, said while standing in the courtroom gallery.
Gibson did not revoke bail for Smith but responded to the man who spoke.
“I know he killed three people. I’m sorry about that. That’s horrible,” said Gibson. “I remember when this happened. In fact, I’ve been in here a couple of times on the appearances.”
The father continued to challenge the judge.
“So money over life, right?” he asked.
The judge said that wasn’t the case, but that if he was in the father’s position he would probably feel the same way. He said he’d lost loved ones in similar circumstances.
“So overturn [the bail],” the father said.
After the hearing, the father, who declined to identify himself to a reporter, followed Moskal out of the courthouse, using an obscenity to refer to Smith.
He told Moskal: “You’re doing it for the money.”
Moskal told him Smith would have an attorney regardless of whether it was him.
Moskal walked back to the courthouse and got two marshals to escort him to the garage next to the courthouse. The father continued following, so the marshals and Moskal went back to the courthouse.
This was not the first time this kind of incident happened in the case. At a January hearing, a man, who was only identified as Post’s partner, confronted and cursed at a family member of Smith’s who also showed up at the hearing.
The man, who was screaming, was held back by family outside the courtroom. Escorted by officers, the man then rushed outside where police chased him, shocked him with a stun gun, took him down and put him in handcuffs. It was not clear if the man in the January confrontation was the same as the one on Wednesday.
While the father pursued Moskal on Wednesday, a circle of grieving women gathered outside the courthouse with teary eyes. Most wore black clothing and three ribbons, one purple and two gold, which they said represented the favorite colors of Post and her boys.
Brianna Immel, who said she was a friend of Post’s and whose children were friends with the boys killed, said she showed up to court to remember the victims.
“None of us want them to be forgotten,” she said.
She said she felt the system was failing those killed and their loved ones. It should not be so easy to walk free, she said.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.