Jesus Ayala and Jzamir Keys are two teen killers from Nevada who would murder retired police chief Andreas Probst
According to court documents Jesus Ayala was driving a stolen vehicle with Jzamir Keys filming in the passenger seat. The vehicle purposely strike and kill Andrea Probst. Earlier in the day the teen killers had stolen multiple vehicles and had struck an elderly cyclist who thankfully would survive
Jesus Ayala and Jzamir Keys would be arrested and soon after the teen killers would plead guilty
Jesus Ayala would be sentenced to twenty years to life
Jzamir Keys would be sentenced to eighteen years to life
Jesus Ayala and Jzamir Keys Case
Two young men who pleaded guilty to the murder of a retired police chief in Las Vegas received their prison sentences on Tuesday.
Jesus Ayala, now 20, and Jzamir Keys, now 18, appeared for sentencing hearings on Tuesday in Clark County District Court.
Ayala’s defense team and prosecutors agreed to a sentence of 20 years to life, as outlined in the plea agreement.
The plea agreement for Keys specified an 18-year-to-life prison term.
Nevada law requires the two be eligible for parole after 20 years because they committed the crime as juveniles.
“At the time they didn’t understand the gravity of what they were doing and they didn’t understand what could result even though it seems obvious to everybody,” David Westbrook, attorney for Ayala said.
Authorities accused Ayala who was age 17 at the time and Keys who was 16 of using a stolen car to intentionally hit 64-year-old Andreas Probst, the former chief of police for Bell, California, as he rode a bicycle in the Centennial Hills neighborhood.
Police identified Ayala as the driver of the car and Keys as the passenger who filmed the incident.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police initially said the crash was a case of hit-and-run, but they later added murder charges after a video went viral.
“My world was destroyed,” Crystal Probst, the widow of Andy said. “Not damaged. Not shaken. Destroyed and every single day since Andy was murdered, I wake up feeling like I’m asked to live a life I no longer recognize.”
The defendants declined to comment during the sentencing.
Investigators said they discovered that Ayala and Keys targeted multiple other victims before Probst was killed. They went on a destructive spree that morning, involving the theft of four cars and using them to hit a bicyclist who survived and another driver.
“This was so much more than a joyride,” Judge Bluth said. “It just kept going and going and escalating with more people getting hurt.”
Probst’s family said they were made aware of the plea deal and stand by their decision to accept it.
“Choosing peace over prolonged suffering is not weakness, it is strength,” Crystal said. “We refuse to give them the power to reopen these wounds. “
Probst’s family has also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Ayala and Keys, along with Hyundai. The suit alleges that Hyundai’s manufacturing defect made it easy for the two suspects to steal the Elantra involved in the crash.
Duo gets decades in prison for killing ex-police chief in car theft and hit spree
