I-Team: Las Vegas driver deemed flight risk, accused of killing grandmother in DUI crash, is now missing – KLAS – 8 News Now

Judge declined to raise $25K bail after monitoring violation, issued stern warning

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A woman accused of driving under the influence and causing a crash that killed a mother and grandmother who prosecutors had warned was a flight risk is missing.

Gilma Rodriguez-Walters, 53, was killed in the December 2019 crash. She was on her way home from work at a Las Vegas-area Home Depot when Marsha Byrd crashed into her, police said.

Byrd was passing other cars and speeding on Tropical Parkway near Torrey Pines Drive when she lost control of her car and crashed into Rodriguez-Walters, police said. Witnesses and a residential surveillance camera indicated her Mercedes SUV was off the road at one point before the wreck.

In addition to alcohol, a blood test found prescription medications in her system, including Nordazepam, Diazepam and Hydrocodone, police said. After her arrest, a judge set bail at $25,000.

In July 2020, a grand jury indicted Byrd on charges of driving under the influence resulting in death and reckless driving.

Byrd appeared with her lawyer in a virtual arraignment that same month.

Not guilty, sir, she told then-District Court Judge Douglas Herndon. Herndon is now a Nevada Supreme Court justice.

And just keep in contact with your attorney, Miss Byrd, OK? Herndon told her.

Yes, she said.

Two months later, Byrd was back in court, accused of violating the conditions of her release. Court documents indicate testing found alcohol in Byrds system.

Prosecutors argued for Herndon to increase bail to $100,000 and put Byrd on house arrest, warning she could flee.

Overwhelming evidence, including video of defendant driving, numerous witness statements, and chemical analysis of defendants blood, renders a conviction extremely likely, Frank LoGrippo, the prosecutor on the case, wrote in a motion to increase bail.

Upon conviction, defendant is facing a non-probationable prison sentence of two to twenty years in the Nevada Department of Corrections for the charge of driving under the influence resulting in death, alone, LoGrippo wrote. This reality makes defendant a flight risk.

Byrds attorney argued his client was battling breast cancer and that the alcohol in her system may have been from hair products she was using. Byrd denied consuming any alcohol since the crash.

Herndon declined to raise bail, but instead ordered Byrd not to drive.

If theres any more problems and I have to remand you into custody I can guarantee you, you will not get health care that you need in the detention center, Herndon warned Byrd.

My daughter is 7 years old and she still cries for grandma, Rodriguez-Walters daughter, Ruth Neall, told the 8 News Now I-Team. I want to say my mom died on impact.

Byrd was due in court on Feb. 1 and did not show. A warrant is out for her arrest.

She should be in prison, Neall said. She should be suffering the consequences for this, but shes not. So, where is she?

Neal questions why Byrd was released and released with driving privileges in the first place. Records show she is a 4-time convicted felon.

Little did I know, she still had her drivers license up until that point, Neall said. Its a failure of whatevers happening in the legal system in Las Vegas, right?

Neall said her family was looking forward to Byrds trial, hoping its outcome would finally provide them closure.

Wheres Marsha? Neall said. I want to find Marsha. If I were in Vegas right now, Id be looking for her myself.

If found, Byrd would be taken into custody and taken to the Clark County Detention Center. She would automatically be held without bail.

Byrds lawyer nor Herndon returned requests for comment.

Tips can be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers by calling 702-385-5555 or at crimestoppersofnv.com/report-a-crime. Crime Stoppers offers a reward for information that leads to an arrest.

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I-Team: Las Vegas driver deemed flight risk, accused of killing grandmother in DUI crash, is now missing - KLAS - 8 News Now