The 19-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a mother of four in Las Vegas, following a convoluted chase over a suspected road rage incident, reportedly confessed to the killing but told police he thought he was being targeted by someone who had threatened him.
Defense attorneys want the videotaped confession of Erich Nowsch thrown out of court, NBC station KSNV reported. Defense attorneys have said police knew Nowsch smoked marijuana before surrendering but interrogated him anyway.
In the recording, which was made public last week and broadcast by KSNV, Nowsch is in tears at one point.
"I swear I thought it was going to pop on me, bros … I knew I saw the gun, bros. I knew I saw the gun aimed at my house," Nowsch said of the killing of Tammy Meyers, 44, on Feb. 12, according to the video. "I didn’t mean to hit no mom with it, bros."
Meyers was shot in the head and killed after she and her armed son went looking for a car Meyers suspected of being involved in a road rage incident earlier in the day.
They found and followed Nowsch, who was in a car that resembled the vehicle in that incident — but which a prosecutor has said may have been a case of mistaken identity, according to The Associated Press.
Nowsch allegedly opened fire on Meyers and her son, Brandon, 22, outside of their home, and struck Tammy Meyers in the head. Brandon Meyers returned fire, but no one was hit, authorities have said.
"Everywhere I went that car was there. It was there. I just had threats earlier that morning on my phone," Nowsch said.
Nowsch is charged with murder, attempted murder, and battery with a deadly weapon. The man who was allegedly driving the car that Nowsch is accused of firing from, Derrick Andrews, 27, is also charged with murder, attempted murder and conspiracy, according to jail records.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said he will not seek the death penalty.
"The death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst," Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in a statement in April. "With that in mind, the facts presented in this case do not warrant the death penalty."
