Skip to main content

2 men sentenced for fatal hit-and-run of bicyclist in Las Vegas that was captured on video

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Two Nevada men were given lengthy prison sentences Tuesday after pleading guilty to the fatal hit-and-run of a man who had been biking alongside a road in Las Vegas. They recorded the collision on video and laughed as they drove off.

A judge sentenced 20-year-old Jesus Ayala to 20 years to life, and 18-year-old Jzamir Keys to 18 years to life for second-degree murder with a deadly weapon, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday. The two pleaded guilty in October in a deal with prosecutors.

Retired California police chief Andreas “Andy” Probst, 64, was riding his bicycle in Las Vegas on Aug. 14, 2023, when he was intentionally struck by a stolen vehicle, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. Ayala was driving, and Keys sat in the passenger seat, according to the district attorney’s office.

The video, taken from the passenger seat, shows the vehicle approaching Probst from behind as he rides near the curb on an otherwise traffic-free road. Voices in the car can be heard laughing as the vehicle steers toward Probst and rams the bicycle. Probst hurtles backward across the hood and into the windshield.

A school resource officer provided the video of the collision with investigators, leading to the arrest of Ayala and Keys. It was later posted to social media and shared by Elon Musk, bringing national attention to the case.

Chief Deputy District Attorney John Giordani called the murders the most “callous and heinous” acts he had seen in his career.

“Although the defendants were young, they knew right from wrong, and nothing could excuse the decisions they made that day,” Giordani said in a statement. “I hope this sentence sends a message to other juveniles that life is sacred and if you take a life, you are forfeiting yours.”

Ayala, who law enforcement authorities say was a member of the Night Crawlers gang, and Keys were juveniles at the time, limiting the court’s sentencing range, according to the Clark County District Attorney’s office. The court imposed the maximum sentence allowed. After 20 and 18 years respectively, Ayala and Keys will be eligible for parole.

In a statement to The Associated Press, Ayala’s attorney P. David Westbrook said Ayala is truly sorry for what he did. Westbrook noted there’s no guarantee his client will get parole.

“He recognizes that he can never make this right, and he does not expect forgiveness, but in accepting this life sentence and sparing the victims’ families from the additional pain of going through a criminal trial, Mr. Ayala has done all he can do to show his remorse,” Westbrook said in an email.

Keys’ attorney did not return a request for comment.

Probst’s family said in 2023 that Ayala and Keys laughed in their direction while waiting for a court hearing to start, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Probst’s family also filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Hyundai Motor Company, alleging Ayala and Keys were able to steal the vehicle using the “Tik Tok method,” a way to steal a car demonstrated on social media with just a screwdriver and a USB cable. On Tuesday, Hyundai and Kia settled a multistate lawsuit that made a similar claim, and the companies agreed to repair millions of models for free to equip them with proper anti-theft technology.

___

This story has been corrected to say Ayala and Keys were sentenced Tuesday, not Wednesday.

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

By WTOP Staff
(CNN) — What started as a yearly trip for a grandfather and his grandson turned into a visit to a Montana hospital after a bison attack at Yellowstone National Park.Carl McDaniel, 65, was hospitalized with a broken femur after a bison charged and tossed him into the air Friday evening at the park’s Bridge Bay Campground, according to McDaniel and the National Park Service.He was visiting the park with his 13-year-old grandson when they decided to take a walk after dinner.Along the way, they encountered a large bison that appeared to be rolling around in the dust and was not bothering anyone, McDaniel told CNN.“We were about a hundred yards away,” McDaniel said. “He was not aggressive; he was not having problems and we took some pictures and decided to walk on.”McDaniel and his grandson snapped a quick photo and continued with their walk, video of the encounter shows. At the same time, a truck drove by, and the driver laid on his horn in what appeared to be an attempt to get the bison to move, McDaniel said. There is no audio on the video.The bison then appeared to become agitated and began running toward the pair.“There was little time to decide what to do. At that point, he was within 100 yards; he could be to us in seconds, so I told my grandson to run in one direction and I went the other to try and draw him away,” McDaniel said.The animal then pushed McDaniel with the top of its head, sending him flying into the air before he hit the ground, the grandfather said.“When I was on the ground immobile, unable to move, he was right on top of me. He could have stomped on me, he could have gored me, he could have done almost anything to take my life, and he did not do so,” McDaniel said.After McDaniel hit the ground, photographer Mike MacLeod, who captured the encounter on video, had to step in, he told Cowboy State Daily.“I was really afraid he was going to gore the guy on the ground, so I stopped videotaping and ran at the bison, yelled loud, and was trying to be as big and intimidating as possible,” MacLeod said.After the bison took off, people rushed over to McDaniel, who was in a lot of pain, MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily. Yellowstone EMS arrived soon after, he said.“Park emergency medical personnel responded and transported him to a nearby hospital,” the National Park Service said in confirming the incident in a statement to CNN.This is the second bison attack at Yellowstone this year. A 12-year-old was injured near Mud Volcano on June 26, according to the agency.After Friday’s attack, “all the people that were there were amazing; they were all positive, they were trying to help as best they could,” McDaniel said. A nurse started tending to his leg, while another bystander held his head.He was then transferred to a hospital in Bozeman, a two-hour journey during which he was in intense pain. He said he was grateful for the paramedic who helped him along the way.McDaniel broke his femur, the body’s strongest bone, in four places near his hip and suffered several bruises. He had surgery Sunday and could stand by Monday.“I will be doing physical therapy for the next few days to get to walk, but it was not as catastrophic as it could have been,” McDaniel said.The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards away from bison at all times and to never approach the animals. “If the bison follows you, spray bear spray as you are moving away, and seek cover behind nearby trees or cars,” the agency said.Correction: An earlier version of this story understated how far visitors should stay away from bison. The National Park Service advises visitors to stay at least 25 yards from them.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
Read Next Story

Related News

Grandfather recovering from surgery after bison attack at Yellowstone sent him flying

McConnell says after weeks of speculation that hospitalization was due to a fall

Obama Center opens in Chicago with a call to defend democracy and a celebrity crowd