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15-year-old charged as adult in fatal Las Vegas shooting

A 15-year-old boy accused of conspiring to kill a man in northeast Las Vegas will be charged as an adult, a judge overseeing juvenile crimes ruled Tuesday.

“The offense committed was an egregious offense,” Family Court Judge Amy Mastin said Tuesday. “This is as serious as it gets, not just in the delinquency system but in the adult system.”

Mastin ordered Landon Richards to be transferred to the Clark County Detention Center and face a charge of conspiracy to commit murder in Las Vegas Justice Court.

Richards is accused of conspiring to kill 46-year-old Carlos Martinez, who was in the garage of his home at 2050 Los Feliz Street on Feb. 10 when two teenagers walked up and one opened fire.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Clarke said Tuesday that Richards planned the shooting in retaliation for someone in the home who owed him money for drugs, but his gun malfunctioned and the other teen, who has not been charged as an adult, shot Martinez.

As a general rule, the Las Vegas Review-Journal does not identify juveniles involved in Juvenile Court cases.

“Landon was the one who had beef with a victim,” Clarke said. “Landon’s gun jammed, and guns don’t jam unless the slide is racked and the trigger is pulled.”

Clarke said Richards spent 14 months on probation for other juveniles crimes, from October 2021 to December.

His defense attorney, Ryan Helmick, said that Richards had used cocaine every day for the last year, and his substance abuse problem would prohibit him from understanding the weight of his crimes.

Mastin said she disagreed with Helmick’s argument, and that Richards had previously undergone rehabilitation treatment.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.

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