District attorney may seek death penalty against slaying suspect

Clark County's top prosecutor said his office might seek the death penalty against a 22-year-old man accused of the brutal slayings of a mother and daughter last month.

After Bryan Clay's appearance Wednesday in Las Vegas Justice Court on murder and sexual assault charges, District Attorney Steve Wolfson said, "This is certainly one of the most serious cases to come to my office since I became the district attorney. This case is going to get the highest attention that a case can get in my office."

On April 15, police believe Clay, drunk and high on drugs, sexually assaulted a 50-year-old woman near the intersection of Vegas and Tonopah drives and then went to the home at 1016 Robin St. Once inside, investigators say Clay used a claw hammer to pummel Arturo Martinez, 39, and beat to death his wife, Ignacia "Yadira" Martinez, 38, and daughter, Karla Martinez, 10. Arturo Martinez remains hospitalized and is unable to communicate. The couple's two sons, 9 and 4 years old, were not attacked.

Clay also is accused of sexually assaulting Karla.

The district attorney's death penalty committee will review the case once it is sent to trial in District Court. First, a Las Vegas justice of the peace or a grand jury must decide whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring the case to trial.

The death penalty committee, whose meetings are not open to the public, looks at three factors when considering capital punishment: whether there are aggravating factors in the case, whether a jury would impose the death penalty as punishment and whether a conviction would stand up under appeal.

Wolfson, who told county commissioners while being interviewed to be the next district attorney that the death penalty should be reserved for the worst of the worst defendants, said he appointed two veteran prosecutors, Pam Weckerly and Robert Daskas, to try the case.

For the second day in a row, Clay appeared in Las Vegas Justice Court surrounded by armed marshals.

He said little. He told Justice of the Peace Joe Sciscento that he understood the charges against him. The county public defender's office was assigned to represent him.

Clay stood stoically with his head held high. He wore navy blue prison scrubs, and his arms and legs were shackled.

But as his lawyers conferred with the judge and prosecutors on the date for a preliminary hearing in the case - set for June 15 - someone caught Clay's eye.

He slowly looked over to the courtroom audience and saw a woman weeping. Clay's head lowered and he looked at the ground.

The moment quickly passed, and his attention returned to the judge setting the hearing date.

He was then whisked out of the courtroom, as the throng of media either recorded or furiously snapped images with their cameras and smart phones.

After the hearing, the woman who had been crying in the back spoke with Clay's attorney's for more than 30 minutes. She was Clay's grandmother, Margaret Brown, his lawyer said. She declined to speak to the assembled media outside of Sciscento's courtroom.

Last week Brown told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that she didn't believe her grandson could be guilty of rape or murder.

"I can't see it or imagine it in a million years," she said of Clay, who she always found to be respectful. "The only way they'll make me believe that is if they prove it, and it's always innocent until proven guilty."

Investigators say they have linked Clay through DNA and other evidence to the slayings at the Martinez home and the sexual assault of the 50-year-old woman.

According to his arrest report, Clay told investigators he did not recall what happened April 15 because he was high on drugs and alcohol.

One of Clay's attorneys, Deputy Public Defender Dan Silverstein, declined to comment on specific evidence in the case, but said, "What I want is for my client to get a fair trial."

A relative of the Martinez family also was in court for the hearing. He did not speak to reporters, either.

On Tuesday, Clay appeared before Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa on unrelated domestic violence charges, accused of assaulting on at least two occasions in February and March his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend, who is pregnant with his child.

A preliminary hearing is set in those cases for May 15. He faces two counts of domestic battery, robbery and child abuse and neglect in those cases.

Clay remained jailed at the Clark County Detention Center, where he is being held in isolation without bail on the murder charges.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@review journal.com or 702-380-1039.