LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty for a man accused of stabbing and killing another on an RTC bus in February.
Aaron Cole, 59, is accused in the fatal stabbing of 30-year-old Dominique Lucas. On Tuesday, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty in Cole's case.
Channel 13 learned this is not the first time Cole is accused of committing a violent crime.
Video from inside an RTC bus shows the knife attack that killed Lucas. Cole is seen stabbing Lucas multiple times after an argument between the two men.
Former Clark County District Attorney David Roger tells Channel 13 Cole's criminal past likely led prosecutors to pursue harsh punishment. For one, Cole was on parole at the time of the murder. He also has a prior conviction for a violent crime.
A police report filed Feb. 16 — two weeks before the killing — reveals Cole was arrested then for threatening to stab a passenger on another RTC bus. Court documents obtained by Channel 13 show he was convicted of attempted murder in 1995 and served prison time in Texas.
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The last time the State of Nevada carried out an execution was in 2006 and, according to UNLV history professor Michael Green, it's relatively rare for the death penalty to be sought here.
"No one has been executed in Nevada in more than 15 years," Green said. "At one point, the Supreme Court held the death penalty to be unconstitutional as it existed."
Lucas' family is raising money to pay for his funeral expenses and, according to a GoFundMe page created by his sister, family members are having a difficult time coping with his death.
The family's attorney released a statement on Lucas' death late last month, writing in part, "The circumstances of Dominique's passing only add to the grief that his family is facing and the pain of living without him. His parents appreciate peace and privacy as they mourn."
Cole is due back in court on Thursday, April 13.
Editor's note: A previous version of this report mistakenly stated Cole was convicted of murder in 1995. He was convicted of attempted murder.
