A Nevada prosecutor said Wednesday he will not seek the death penalty for two suspects charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a mother of four in Las Vegas.
Erich Nowsch, 19, is charged with opening fire on Tammy Meyers, 44, in front of her home on Feb. 12. She was struck in the head and died two days later. Derrick Andrews, 26, is accused of acting as the getaway driver.
"The death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst," Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in a statement. "With that in mind, the facts presented in this case do not warrant the death penalty."
Meyers’ murder was first suspected by police to be connected with a road rage incident that occurred between the driver of a silver car and Meyers and her 15-year-old daughter earlier that day.
Frightened and angry, Meyers and her armed son went looking for that driver, found a car that resembled the one in the road rage incident, followed that car and were shot at on the road and again in front of their home, police said.
A prosecutor later said it appears Meyers mistook the silver Audi Nowsch was riding in with the car involved in the earlier altercation, The Associated Press has reported. Nowsch told friends after the shooting that he believed someone was after him, according to a criminal complaint.
After the killing, Nowsch allegedly told friends he "got those kids, they were after me, and I got them," according to the complaint. Police have said Nowsch was the only shooter, but both men are charged with murder, attempted murder and conspiracy, according to court records.
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