Teen Killed Pregnant Girlfriend in 12-Car Pile-Up on Purpose: Cops

A 19-year-old man is now charged with. murder after authorities claimed [music]. he intentionally went over 70 miles per. hour causing a 12-car crash that killed. two [music] people out in Las Vegas. And. it's not just the evidence that may. surprise you here, but the potential. defense and the alleged criminal. history, too. >> [music]. >> Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law &. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Let me tell you something. If you think. the crime stories I cover are scary, wait until you hear what's happening. with your personal data online. Your.

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experts will personally remove them. So, if you care about protecting yourself. online, take your privacy back with. Incogni. Use code sidebar for 60% off of. an annual plan. It's not shocking enough. that a 19-year-old man has been. criminally charged in connection with a. 12-car crash pileup out in Las Vegas, but it is his apparent past that is now. raising a lot of concern, too. And. potential defense he may move forward. with. We're talking about Jose. Gutierrez. He is accused of speeding up.

to 71 mph in a nearly straight line, according to authorities, in a. reportedly posted 45-mph zone, and. crashing into cars at a red light. Middle of day, November 18th, approximately 3:29 p.m. His pregnant. girlfriend, 20-year-old Adeline Duran. Rincon, and another driver, 38-year-old. Edward Garcia, they were killed. They. died at the scene. Another victim had to. be immediately taken to the hospital.

after suffering life-threatening. injuries. By the way, apparently, the. local DA indicating there is no evidence. that Gutierrez tried to stop. In fact, Clark County District Attorney Steve. Wolfson said, quote, we believe, based. on all the evidence to date, including a. very descriptive video, that his actions. were intentional. And also indicated. that Gutierrez was not under the. influence of drugs or alcohol. 8 News. Now Las Vegas reporting he had only. trace amounts of marijuana in his. system. And by the way, that is despite.

reporting that law enforcement. apparently found a marijuana vape on. him, and they noted that he had these. apparent bloodshot eyes. We'll talk. about that. But, authorities also. indicate that the data from the Infiniti. G37 that he was allegedly driving on. West Cheyenne Avenue reportedly shows. that it accelerated rapidly from 9 mph. within 5 seconds. Oh, and you know what. I didn't even mention? What he allegedly. said at the hospital to law enforcement.

I want to get into that. I want to get. into his charges. I want to get into his. potential defense, his alleged history, and more. Let's talk about it. Okay, so. let me bring in Adrian Lobo, a Nevada. criminal defense attorney, to talk more. about this. Thank you so much for taking. the time. Um I want to start with the. charges here. So, you have this guy, Jose Gutierrez, who initially faced four. counts of reckless driving resulting in. death or substantial bodily harm. This. is according to the records. On. Thursday, the prosecutors upgraded his. charges. So, according to the Las Vegas. Metro Metropolitan Police Department, on.

November 20th, he was rebooked on the. following charges: open murder, so two. counts of open murder, attempted murder, and battery with use of a deadly weapon. But, when you look at the court records, it also indicates that he's facing four. counts of reckless driving, another. count of attempted murder, and another. count of battery. And the upgrade, I. would imagine, Adrian, is because they. get the the blood test back. It doesn't. appear that he's impaired, so they're.

making the argument that this was. intentional murder? It seems so with the. way that the charging has occurred. Definitely. I feel like. I I was a bit shocked to see that it was. charged as open murder. I thought maybe possibly vehicular. manslaughter might be something that. they would bring, but it appears that. they're going to say that this was an. intentional volitional act, and you can. premeditate in seconds to get to a. first-degree murder conviction. You also.

can achieve a first-degree murder. conviction through a felony murder. Like meaning like a crime of violence. So, the reckless driving and the. attempted murder, they can get there. through it. >> Can you explain what it means when we. say open murder? Because I went on the. Clark County government website, and. they say murder is defined by Nevada. Revised Statutes, and they they cite a a. statute. An open murder information or. indictment charges murder in the first. degree, and all necessarily included.

offenses. These would include murder in. the second degree and possibly voluntary. manslaughter and involuntary. manslaughter based upon the specific. facts of the case. So, what is open. murder? Open murder is something that we. do in Nevada, meaning that. they charge an open like homicide. charge, and then the jury would get to. pick in essence, if this were to go to. trial, between a first-degree murder, a. second-degree murder, and. >> [clears throat]. >> voluntary manslaughter, and an. involuntary manslaughter. So, meaning.

that. that he did this. I think that's kind of. a stretch, but I think possibly they're. just going to leave it open to for the. jury to decide. And the jury can pick. from all four of those. Well, I will get. into his specific defense or potential. defense in a minute. Putting that aside, you think it might be difficult to prove. this was an intentional volitional act. if you look at the car speeding, if they.

have the data from the car that it. speeds up like that, if there's no. indication touch the brake. I I I hear. what you're saying. I think. traditionally, it's it's kind of unusual. to charge somebody in these car crash. cases with, you know, intentional murder. like this. But, you don't think that. those factors would be enough to say. that this was an intentional act, or at. least you can understand it seems why. the DA might move forward with that. Right. And I think premeditation. it can happen in minutes. That's what we. always hear in every sort of, you know,

homicide prosecution. That intent that's. necessary can be formed in seconds. You. don't have to have this elaborate plan, but it does seem that, you know, was it. his intention to have a suicide. homicide? You know, cuz I don't know. I. mean, he's going to subject himself also. to that same danger as well. But, as you. said, there is no slowing down, and I. don't know. It's very curious to see. what his defense is going to be. Well,

that is what I want to get into. It's. not I'll give you it's not brake. failure. It's not there was a problem. with the car, at least as right now, which we'll talk about. But, let me ask. you first about his alleged statement. So, according to KTN V Channel 13, police go to the hospital after the. crash. This is where Gutierrez is being. treated, and they ask him, were you. driving? And allegedly, he first says, you know, yes. He confirms that he was. the driver. Then he later denies it, and. apparently changes his story. At one. point, he's asked if he was drinking. before he went behind the wheel. He.

reportedly said the last drink that he. had was the week before the crash. They. ask, what about consuming marijuana? He. says he didn't use any drugs in the last. week. But, as I mentioned, law. enforcement look at his eyes. They claim. they were bloodshot. They were watery. So, they seemingly suspect he may not be. telling the truth, especially when they. get a hold of his clothes that he was. wearing, and apparently they find a. marijuana vape pen in a pocket. His. blood is drawn for testing, and. according to News 3 LV, they report that. they find trace amount of basically.

cannabis. So, this does become a. question of whether or not, Adrian, you. know, look, was he impaired in some way, or is he not being honest? And I wonder. if that's the bigger issue. Is he. allegedly not being honest about what. state he was in, the information he. provided to law enforcement, and can. that be used to really hurt him in an. eventual case? Right. For sure, I think. there are concerns about him, you know, changing his story multiple.

times. And then, but I think one thing. that I. presumably is going to be flushed out. I. don't know the the time period in. between those two statements. I know he. was treated for his own injuries, and. they had talked about in that same. report having trace amounts of fentanyl, but through probably the hospital. administering whatever drugs to, you. know, patch him up and get him on his. way. If that statement came out then, maybe some of those could be. suppressible cuz he wasn't in his right.

mind, or he could offer an explanation. It just really depends on, number one, what he was treated for, the medication. he was given, and was he even of sound. mind to be making sense. such that the police should even be. asking him questions if he's completely. out of it and loopy. And if he had fentanyl in his system, And I'll tell you there was also more. bad news for him. Look, you make a good. point about whether his statements were, you know, what the legitimacy of his. statements and whether or not, how he. was questioned. But,

more bad news for him, aside from the. charges that he's facing, is that when. he walked into a courtroom, wearing a. cast, by the way, Las Vegas Justice. Court Judge Joe Bonaventure denied him. bail. Now, were you surprised by that. given the circumstances of this case? What would be the rationale to deny him. bail? Well, in Nevada, we have what is. called you are entitled to bail, but on. any first-degree sort of open murder. charge, the courts have the right to.

deny bail for capital like cases and I'm. not surprised that he did considering. that two people were killed, another two. were severely injured and it appears. that at this point if he wasn't. impaired, this is a volitional act and. you know, Judge Bonaventure's primary. concern of course is going to be to. protect the community and make sure that. he shows up and clearly if he's doing. this and he's a he's sober, that's even.

more concerning. And we do have a. statute meaning that if proof we call. proof evident presumption great, meaning. that if the proof is evident that this. was that it's overwhelming and the. presumption is great that he will be. convicted in a first degree homicide. case, they can deny bail. I I have to ask you about this potential. defense. So, Gutierrez has apparently. told police. that he suffers from untreated seizures. Now, the problem with that according to.

authorities is this is outlined in court. documents is they argue, well, if that. was the case, the car would have slowed. down. It would have decreased speed. It. would have drifted off the road. We have. a statement by the way from Gutierrez's. Gutierrez's attorney Thomas Moskal. Jose. Gutierrez has a documented history of. seizures that the DA's office needs to. investigate and consider before plowing. ahead on a theory that this car crash. was the commission of cold, calculated, premeditated murder of his fiance who. was carrying his unborn child. My office.

is in the process of gathering medical. records. Adrian, what do you think about. that? And how would they necessarily. prove that? Well, it's interesting, right? Because. if there were medical records and I do. know Thomas Moskal. and I'm sure that he's going to be. gathering them. And so, whatever sort of. medical episodes were, you know, documented are going to be very helpful. in this case. And obviously if this was. an involuntary act and he was having a. seizure, I think that law enforcement.

saying that the car would have. decelerated. or his foot would have come off it, they. just don't know. I mean, in a seizure. sort of event, how your body is reacting. and if he's stuck there, then that is. what it is. I hope that they have some. sort of solid documentation because it. sounds like he was never formally. diagnosed. So, it's going to be. critical. I'm wondering where that. documentation is coming from because if. you're going to the hospital or you're. at school and having this sort of.

medical episode, obviously the. ambulances are going to be called and. somebody's going to rush you to the. hospital and give you, you know, some. sort of seizure meds. Well, it's also. that could this, you know, turn around. to bite him because if it's true and he. knew about it, why didn't he get the. proper treatment? Why was he operating a. car? I mean, couldn't this actually be. used against him if the defense wants to. go this route? I mean, they could they. could. why didn't he get treated? I think a lot. of things. First of all, I don't know.

about Mr. Gutierrez's background and if. he's somebody who had access to good. medical care, if he had insurance, if he. even knew what it was. I don't know what. his education level, sophistication. level is and if something goes. undiagnosed and untreated traditionally. also in, you know, communities of color. are apt to go to the doctors very. quickly and or to even know what it is. necessarily. So, I think that has to be. explored and developed, too. And not.

saying that it's ignorance, but if you. don't know what it is, then how can you. be on the hook? But he knows something. was wrong if he's having these episodes. So, I I hear what you're saying. Yeah, and look, it's an interesting defense. I. guess the question becomes would it. downgrade it from murder? Would it be, hey, this is a complete accident. This. is not a murder. This is not attempted. murder. This is not reckless driving. Is. the goal for it to ex you know, be a. almost like an affirmative defense. He. can't be charged for anything or is it.

to downgrade it? I think it's to downgrade it. And for. example, if that documentation is solid. and Mr. Moskal can present that to the. District Attorney's Office, possibly. there will be some sort of negotiation. that I would expect for an involuntary. manslaughter. if if that's a possibility. And so, meaning that this was through an act. that he didn't have control. Maybe it's. a voluntary. Maybe it's used to. negotiate to get him down Yeah. so that.

way he doesn't have to go to trial. But. I think it's a stretch just as Mr. Moskal put it that he had a plan to plow. through an intersection with his. girlfriend who's, you know, pregnant and. there was no signs that there was he was. wanting to get rid of her and the child. It seems like that's a big stretch to. make that he'd be willing to do that. without some sort of motive. I I want to. ask about his past and how that might. factor into this case in some way. So, first of all, authorities say that the.

DMV records show he wasn't driving a car. that was registered to him during the. crash. He was actually it was a car. registered to the mother of his. girlfriend. Again, the girlfriend who was killed in. the collision. Now, men there are people. who might be saying, hmm, that's strange. he's driving that car. Well, let's. explore that a little bit because we may. not know the exact circumstances of why. he was apparently driving that car, but. here's what we do know. According to. reporting from KTN V Channel 13, show he. received a speeding ticket last month. after he was going 52 in a 35 mph zone.

8 News Now reporting that he told the. officer who stopped him that, "This is. my girlfriend's car." The officer writes. him a $150 ticket and he was scheduled. to appear in court in January to pay it. off. Back in September, he is accused of. crashing into an elderly woman. Now, the. woman's son, unidentified, told KTN V. that Gutierrez hit into his mom's car. after allegedly running a stop sign with. her car being destroyed. She has to go. to physical therapy according to the.

son. The son saying, quote, "She never even. had a ticket or been in an accident. She's doing her physical therapy, takes. her walks around the park, but it's not. the same. I told him that I'd been in. these types of situations before, fender. benders, they do happen. Just please. take your time and drive safe from here. on because the next time it could really. affect somebody." And after this new. deadly crash, this son called on. lawmakers in Nevada to implement. stricter policies for repeat driving. offenders.

In April, Gutierrez was apparently. arrested for allegedly intimidating a. public officer who responded to a call. about a woman claiming she was attacked. by a man and Gutierrez reportedly says. to this officer, "I'll bleeping shoot. you and I'll kill you." 8 News Now. providing a bit more detail here. reporting that there is video of this. interaction where Gutierrez allegedly. runs up to the officer saying, "What's. up, fool, and I'll shoot you." You have. apparent family members that were. around. Officers force him to the.

ground, they handcuff him, they arrest. him and that is when Gutierrez allegedly. claims that his girlfriend was hanging. out with another man, even allegedly. drops a racial slur. He was facing a. felony intimidation charge, but over the. summer he apparently entered into a plea. deal where he pleads no contest to a. lesser misdemeanor charge of resisting a. public officer. He was ordered to. undergo 8 hours of impulse control. counseling, actually finished those. sessions in September. So, Adrian, two. questions here. Should he have been even on the road?

Was there any legal mechanism where I, you know, where he should not have been. allowed to be on the road driving? And. two, does any of that affect the current. case? Does any of that potential. evidence or any of those witnesses. testify in this trial? Yeah, I think. possibly for sure it's going to affect. the negotiations in this case for sure. If there is an offer that is made, I can. say that it is concerning and there. isn't anything that was legally in place. because he was able to still drive, hit.

the car and didn't have his license. revoked. In Nevada, you have to be able. to. have two priors in order for that to. happen and for it to be revoked. It. sounds like from what you stated, he. only had one of those and I can tell you. that for sure it is going to be a. problem in this case. If the state wants. to admit those prior that act, they're. going to have to show that it's part of. a common scheme, plan or motive or it's.

part of his intent that somehow it is. probative to prove the charges in this. case. In my opinion, and I'm pretty sure. that law enforcement has already done. this, is dumping his phone data to know. if there was any sort of, you know, hostility between him and his. girlfriend, to know if this was, you. know, a premeditated if there was. trouble in paradise. And then you'll be. able to get there. I think it's going to. be a bit hard to use those acts. It just.

really is going to depend upon the. judge. If you're going to use prior. offenses where somebody was hit comes. into this or clearly if he's got a road. rage problem in particular and that's. the state's theory, then possibly they. can put it in here. But they're going to. have to be able to develop it that there. was some sort of at least something set. him off to the point to accelerate and. that he couldn't control the impulse to, Right. drive recklessly. Right.

By the way, there was a little bit of. mixed reporting on this. I know you. looked at the court record, maybe you. have a answer. So, it's being reported. that he's due back in court in January. for his arraignment, but then I saw that. there might be a. even though there you look at the court. record, it says probable cause was. found, but I saw that the judge had maybe. scheduled a preliminary hearing for. December 9th, but my understanding is in. under Nevada law, you can either present. a case to a grand jury to see, you know, if there's enough probable cause. You.

don't always have to go to a preliminary. hearing. I don't know if you have a. little bit of. clarity on what hearing we can expect. next and why, if it is true, why they. would want to go for a preliminary. hearing as opposed to a grand jury. I personally think that they will go for. a like grand jury indictment. You are. correct in that yes, there are two ways. to charge. You can charge by an. indictment or you can charge by a. complaint and the complaint would go. into a preliminary hearing. The grand. jury indictment, I think is probably.

what I would expect to happen. So, if. there is no preliminary hearing. scheduled at the moment, um. I could would say or if it's kicked out. very far in time, that kind of gives me. some sign that they're going to go to. the grand jury instead. And you know, one of those two things is going to. happen. So, you can have them. simultaneously. So, meaning if they're. already in jury and are going to present. evidence, they'll keep the preliminary. hearing date. So, that way it's it's out. there and then once the indictment comes.

back, they'll dismiss the other case. procedurally. So, I would expect um with. two people and two people that are. severely injured and you would have to. be bringing them into court if they're. able to talk, speak and all of those. things and you know, whatever sort of. medical treatment they're having for. their injury, that's a lot. So, I would. think they want to make um the victims. comfortable and the grand jury can give. them more flexibility. And they're also. not cross-examined by defense counsel.

And putting aside by the way just all. the legal elements, going back to the. human aspect of the story, Adeline was 11 weeks pregnant at the. time of the crash and I want to read you. from a GoFundMe that was set up to raise. funds for her funeral expenses. It says, quote, "We would like to ask for help to. gather money that will help with funeral. expenses. With heavy hearts, we ask you. to please help out the family of Adeline. Doran. She was involved in a terrible. car accident that took place on November. 18th, 2025 and unfortunately lost her. life in a terrible way. She was also.

expecting. Please pray for her to be in. peace. Her family is devastated. Anything helps if you can find in your. hearts to donate anything, it will be. greatly appreciated to help the family. during this such difficult times." And. this is by the way what Jose Hernandez, the deputy chief of police had to say, quote, "It's yet another reminder of how. 10 families whose lives will be changed. forever. Two of which will not have. family members during the holidays.". Really, really sad. Adrian Lobo, thank. you so much for taking the time. Really. appreciate it. Thank you for having me.

I appreciate it. And that's all we have. for you right now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much for joining. us and as always, please subscribe on. YouTube, [music] Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcast. You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm. Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next. time.