LAS VEGAS (AP) – A 19-year-old accused of killing a Las Vegas mother in a neighborhood gunbattle suffered a fractured skull at the hands of his father when he was a 7-week-old infant, court records and interviews show.
The father. Erich Milton Nowsch Sr., pleaded guilty in 1996 to child abuse for the injury, according to archived court documents reviewed by The Associated Press. The father killed himself in 2010 at 39 when his son was 14.
Defense attorney Augustus Claus said he wants to investigate the extent and effect of the injury before deciding whether to use it in the defense of Erich Milton Nowsch Jr. He faces murder, attempted murder and weapon charges in the shooting death of Tammy Meyers earlier this month.
“Obviously, an injury like that has potential for long-term consequences,” Claus said.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson also will consider the injury while deciding whether to seek the death penalty against Nowsch. David Stanton, the chief deputy district attorney handling the case, declined to comment further.