Category: Court News

KINGMAN – The horrific murder of a Kingman woman over a custody dispute involving her grandchildren ended Friday with the sentencing of the victim’s daughter who pleaded guilty to first degree murder. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle imposed a life prison sentence for Carrie Vanover, 24. Co-defendant Mark Baldonado, 32, was previously sent to the Arizona Department of Corrections under an identical plea agreement. Both convicted killers must remain in prison for at least 25 years before possible parole windows open. Various authorities, investigative reports, evidence and admissions paint a consistent picture of why and how Shawn Vanover,…

KINGMAN – A lover’s quarrel at a Kingman motel resulted in the death of one Peach Springs woman and the arrest of another on a second-degree murder charge. Police responded to a report of an unresponsive woman at the Days Inn East just before 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 9. The suspect, Leanne Watahomigie, 34, was performing CPR on her girlfriend Nellita Smith, 38, when officers arrived at room #119 on the property at 3881 E. Andy Devine Avenue. “Nellita was determined to be deceased and she was found to have a contusion to her right eye, as well as…

LAKE HAVASU CITY – Over the past several months, detectives from the Lake Havasu City Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, which is part of the Mohave Area General Narcotics Enforcement Team (MAGNET), have been conducting an investigation into the sale of illegal drugs at a residence in the 2300 block of Alpine Drive in Lake Havasu City. On July 6, at approximately 9:50 a.m. the Lake Havasu City Police Department’s SWAT team, with the assistance of the Special Investigations Unit, served a search warrant at that residence.  During the search, Detectives located a usable amount of methamphetamine and numerous items…

KINGMAN- A local judge has accepted a plea agreement and imposed the 12.5-year prison term mandated in the case of a Kingman man who drew police gunfire after stealing a big rig in May. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Rick Lambert sent 27-year-old Michael Lapeer to the Arizona Department of Corrections Wednesday. Authorities said Lapeer was able to start a Mohave County-owned Humvee that had been stored at a yard along Andy Devine Avenue. Lapeer admitted driving the vehicle through a chain link gate in the fenced yard and into the streets of Kingman before police quickly responded. A bizarre…

KINGMAN – The Mohave County Attorney’s Office is declining prosecution of the Alaska man whose vehicle crossed the center line of Highway 95 resulting in a crash and the deaths of a mother and daughter from Lake Havasu City. Maria Ramirez-Rangle, 38, and her ten-year-old daughter were dead at the scene of the January 19 head-on collision at Fall Springs Wash. An adult male and children 5 and 14 years of age who occupied the Infinity SUV driven by Ramirez-Rangle were hospitalized for treatment of their injuries. The driver of the Range Rover SUV that was southbound when it crossed…