‘Trash’: Victim’s dad blasts probation sentence for driver in Las Vegas teen’s death

A judge ordered probation Wednesday for a speeding driver who killed a teen in a fatal crash.

District Judge Jennifer Schwartz’s sentence was met with dismay by prosecutors and family members of the victim.

Jurors found Jesus Barraza, 21, guilty of reckless driving resulting in death after a June trial. They reached their verdict after only about an hour of deliberations.

Devin Heath, 17, an aspiring firefighter approaching his high school graduation, died at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center following the March 18, 2024 crash. The collision occurred around 9:20 p.m. at Tree Line Drive and Back Woods Road, near Lewis Family Park in southeast Las Vegas.

Raymond Heath, the victim’s father, called the sentence “trash.”

“Let’s all go out and run people over and kill them and just get probation,” he said. “Let’s make Las Vegas as dangerous as possible, because nothing’s going to happen.”

He added: “I don’t feel like justice was served.”

“The message that was sent is that you can go and drive recklessly on the road here in the valley, go over double the speed limit, you can take a young child’s life and you can get probation,” said Deputy District Attorney Corey Hallquist.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Chad Lexis called the sentence “disheartening and shocking.”

“Unfortunately, the Judge believed that this case was deserving of probation,” he said in a statement. “The victim’s family and the prosecution are extremely disappointed with the sentence.”

Schwartz ordered an underlying suspended sentence of 28 to 72 months. Barraza’s probation conditions include a curfew, restitution, maintaining employment, taking a driver’s safety class and completing 100 hours of community service.

“You are a child and you killed a child and I know it wasn’t intentional,” the judge said. “This is your one shot.”

Deputy District Attorney Afan Tarar said in a closing argument at trial that Barraza was driving more than double the 30 mph speed limit when he hit Heath, who was jaywalking as he crossed the street from the park.

Defense attorney ‘shocked’

Tarar had requested that Schwartz order Barraza to serve a maximum sentence of 28 to 72 months in prison.

He acknowledged that the defendant has no criminal record and is young.

But “his speed was going up the whole time until he finally collided with the victim,” said the prosecutor, adding that Barraza was driving in a residential neighborhood near a park where children play.

Defense attorney Philip Singer said his client did brake.

Prosecutors have argued that Barraza braked after hitting Heath.

The defense attorney asked for probation.

“Prison would result in him losing his house, losing his job, losing everything,” said Singer.

Barraza expressed remorse in an emotional statement.

“I do not expect your forgiveness and I have no right to ask it,” he said. “I want you to know that I wake up every day with the weight of what I have done and will carry that for the rest of my life.”

Singer said after court that he was “shocked” at the sentence his client received.

“I know Judge Schwartz is fair and fair to the defense, but I thought with an election year being in the wind and the devastation that the family expressed, I thought his living a perfect life was going to go out the window, but thank goodness it didn’t,” he said.

Family describes void

Every day, Raymond Heath walks into his son Devin’s room, sits and talks to Devin like he is still there. The room has remained unchanged since the day of the crash.

“It’s the only place where I can still feel even the smallest piece of his presence,” he told the judge.

Sometimes, he said, he still calls his son’s name in the house, not because he expects Devin will answer, but because he misses him so much.

“Devin changed my life and I don’t know if he ever realized it,” said Raymond Heath. “He made me grow up. He gave me purpose. He gave me a reason to become a better man than I’d ever been.”

He was proud, he said, that his son was empathetic, sensitive and courageous. He saw Devin as his best friend and his legacy.

Raymond Heath works as a firefighter for the Clark County Fire Department and he recalled his son saying he wanted to follow in his footsteps, becoming a firefighter and emergency medical technician too.

He imagined the two of them putting on their gear together, talking in the fire station after a long shift, working side by side. After the crash, he said he felt guilty, wondering why he was not there to save his son.

“When he died, I died with him,” he told the judge.

Joevon Hollis, a brother of the victim, witnessed the crash and said the loss was devastating.

“I cried and I’ve been crying ever since,” said Hollis.

He described feeling helpless and ashamed, thinking he should have been able to do something for his brother. The family’s home, silent in the absence of Devin, now feels empty and suffocating, he said.

The judge tried to reassure Hollis and other family members who spoke.

“You have nothing to feel ashamed for,” Schwartz told him. “And I know you don’t know me, I’m just some lady up here, but you don’t. I don’t want you to feel any sort of shame associated with this.”

Raymond Heath said others involved in the case will move on, but his family’s grief will never end.

“Tonight, I will go home to a house where my son’s room still waits for me,” he said in court. “I’ll probably walk into that room like I do every day, I’ll probably sit on his bed and I’ll go, ‘Hey, Devin,’ even though I know no one’s there to answer me.”