LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It’s the courtroom conduct that sent shock waves. Eighteen-year-old Jesus Ayala and 16-year-old Jzamir Keys were seen laughing, conversing and even giving the middle finger to the family of Andreas Probst on Tuesday.
The teens are facing murder charges after police said they intentionally ran over and killed Probst, who was cycling in the northwest valley on Aug. 14. Police said Ayala was the driver and Keys was the passenger who recorded the incident along with two other targeted hit-and-run crimes in stolen cars the same day.
Criminal defense attorney Mace Yampolsky said the behavior is unheard of.
“It just seems like these two teens are not taking this matter as seriously as they should,” said Yampolsky. “Whenever I represented someone, I would always say 'make sure you act appropriately in the courtroom.' Don’t make eye contact with people in the gallery, and certainly don’t make any actions that could be construed against you.”
Yampolsky said although the two teens are of young age it would be a hard sell to defend them.
“It shows there’s absolutely no remorse and they place no value on human life,” Yampolsky said.
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Former Clark County District Attorney David Roger said the callous conduct could come back to haunt the teens.
“Their outrageous conduct in court will come back to haunt them forevermore,” said Roger. “Prosecutors will have this video in their back pocket if these defendants try to claim remorse somewhere down the road. It was a foolish, foolish move on their part.”
Channel 13 also spoke with the grandfather of Jzamir Keys, who revealed he was not involved in Keys' life.
“I don’t think my son raised him like that,” he said. “I think maybe he got his raising from his peers.”
The grandfather revealed Keys' parents had a “rocky relationship.”
“It came to the point where she couldn’t stand him and he couldn’t stand her,” he said.
According to court documents obtained by Channel 13, Keys' mother took a plea agreement to child abuse charges in 2016.
According to a related Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrest report from 2015, when Jzamir was 8, a female neighbor reported Keys' mother to Child Protective Services because she left her five unsupervised children — ranging from 2 to 9-years-old — home alone Sunday through Thursday.
The children told the neighbor there was no food or drinks in the home, and Keys only had one pair of shoes he obtained from a counselor at school, according to the report.
Ayala and Keys are scheduled back in court next March for a trial readiness check. Their trial date was set for Sept. 16, 2024.
