Category: Court News

KINGMAN – Attorney’s agree that there are no videos, eye witnesses or physical evidence to present, and that credibility assessments will prove key in what they call a “he-sad/she-said” sex offense trial that began Monday at the Law and Justice Center in Kingman. Keith Jones, 22, is charged with five counts each of sexual assault and sexual conduct with a minor for allegedly forcing himself upon an underage female teenager on multiple occasions at three Kingman homes over a two-year period ending on Dec. 31, 2022. Prosecutor Leah Nelson said the families of the victim and defendant have been closely…

KINGMAN – Two men charged with the armed robbery of a Kingman bank made separate local court appearances on Friday, May 10. Mario Fragassi, 53, Golden Valley, and Christopher Ayala, 49, California, are held in the Adult Detention Center awaiting trial. Authorities allege Fragassi robbed the Hualapai Mountain Road branch of Mission Bank on Feb. 26 before hopping in the getaway vehicle driven by Ayala. They reportedly drove to the Napa Auto Parts store in the 2500 block of Andy Devine Ave., where Fragassi was wounded in a gunfire exchange with Kingman police, while Ayala was able to call a…

LAKE HAVASU CITY — A Lake Havasu City man who entered a mandatory prison plea agreement to resolve his child pornography case asked to withdraw from the deal at his May 10 sentencing hearing in Kingman. Casey Cassidy, 30, faced a 5- to 10-year prison term after pleading guilty to two charges reduced to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor. Eight sexual exploitation of a minor counts were dismissed in the deal entered before Judge Doug Camacho on April 4. A police report indicated that Cassidy’s Dropbox account stored 81 files of illegal images of underage minors engaged in sexually exploitive…

KINGMAN – The suspect in a near two-year-old double homicide outside Kingman faces a May 16 initial court appearance before Judge Doug Camacho at the Mohave County Law and Justice Center. Daniel Matthew Avila, 26, El Mirage, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for the June 27, 2022 shooting deaths of Retta Atkins, 73, and her husband Darren VanHouten, 50. Authorities allege a video surveillance system reveals Avila outside before breaking in and shooting the couple to death in their home in the 9200 block of Dilligaf Road. Avila previously pleaded guilty in a Tempe burglary case and…

BULLHEAD CITY – Cinco De Mayo 2024 last Sunday brought a celebration of Mexican cuisine to Hardeyville Tavern in Bullhead City where Da Taco Joint and Loaded and Baked sponsored a Cinco celebration involving the Tri-City’s best taco vendors all in one location. A couple hundred people showed up to sample some of the best tacos to be found in the region and listen to some live music, bash a pinata and generally enjoy the annual day that celebrates a military victory over France in Puebla Mexico inn 1862. The date is often mistaken for Mexican Independence Day which is actually…

KINGMAN – A state trooper said his life is forever changed by getting run down by a vehicle driven by a serial fugitive. Trooper August Romanski recounted the traumatic encounter at Michael Malerba’s May 3 sentencing hearing. Malerba had allegedly fled three previous law enforcement pursuits that were terminated in the interest of public safety and he was a wanted man when authorities tracked him to a fast-food establishment in Kingman on April 21, 2023. Deputy Mohave County Attorney Amanda Claerhout said troopers decided to trail Malerba, 55, into the Hualapai Mountains where he lived with his mother, hoping to…