Lawsuit claims college student was killed in ‘avoidable tragedy’
Amelia Claypool’s boyfriend skirted a trial — and a murder conviction — in 2019 when he accepted a plea deal. Now, her parents are demanding that he face a jury in a civil case.
Last week, ahead of Claypool’s second death anniversary, Lee Ann Pretto and Donald Blain filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Clark County District Court.
“This action arises from a senseless, avoidable tragedy,” states the seven-page lawsuit, which, on the final page, concludes: “Plaintiffs hereby demand a trial by jury.”
A 2018 Coronado High School graduate and longtime competitive cheerleader, Claypool was home for the summer in 2019 after completing her freshman year at University of Nevada, Reno, when she was shot and killed by her boyfriend outside a Henderson house party. She was 19.
“As a result of the wrongful death of Amelia Claypool,” the lawsuit states, “Plaintiffs Pretto and Blain have sustained the loss of love, affection, society, service, comfort, support, right of support, expectations of future support, and counseling, companionship, solace and mental support.”
Noah Ray Hadley, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, was sentenced six months later to up to four years in a Nevada prison, the maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter.
Had he been convicted of the original charge — murder with a deadly weapon — Hadley faced the possibility of life in prison.
In April, he was granted parole, and his sentence is set to end in September, according to the state Parole and Probation Board.
Hadley called 911 shortly after 11 p.m. on June 27, 2019. Authorities have said he initially reported that his girlfriend had been shot by “some random guy.”
But within hours, Henderson police had identified him as the shooter, after they had obtained a short video posted by Hadley to his Snapchat account seven minutes before he called 911. In it, Hadley was seen at the party showing off the handgun used in the shooting.
When Henderson police arrived at the scene, they found Claypool lying in the parking lot, surrounded by Hadley and the couple’s friend. Authorities have said the friend hid the weapon under the driver’s seat of his 2010 Dodge pickup truck before police arrived. Officers later recovered the weapon.
The wrongful death lawsuit publicly identifies the friend for the first time as Tristan Jacobs.
At the time, citing an ongoing investigation, authorities declined to say whether the couple’s friend would face charges in the shooting. Court records show he was never charged in the case.
Both Hadley and Jacobs are named as defendants in the lawsuit. As of Tuesday, court records did not list an attorney for either of them. Efforts to reach them for comment were unsuccessful.
In addition, the lawsuit names SFR Investments, a property management company that owns the house where the party occurred.
The lawsuit claims that the company failed to provide its house guests an environment free “from unreasonable danger” when it allowed Hadley “to consume alcohol on the premise while in possession of a firearm.”
“Defendants negligently contributed to the actions of Defendant Hadley,” the lawsuit continues, “as it is reasonable to believe that consuming alcohol and being in possession of a firearm could lead to deadly consequences.”
SFR Investments did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.