Verlaine May Powless

UPDATE: A stop light has been added to this crosswalk recently.

19 y/o Verlain May Powless was struck and killed on July 25 2008 at 8:45PM while crossing South Las Vegas Blvd at Wigwam. The driver, a Detroit Michigan man, is in Clark County Jail awaiting manslaughter charges. Verlaine was in a pedestrian crosswalk that is marked with flashing yellow lights in each direction to warn drivers of the pedestrians in the area. Apparently one car stopped and as she crossed in front of it a second car went around the first one stricking Verlaine and killing her instantly.



They demonstrators were using the crosswalk to stop traffic on Las Vegas Bld by conducting a round robin in the crosswalk from one side to the other. After a short time it was obvious that the tension between the demonstrators and the drivers was increasing quickly. There were shoving matches between drivers and demonstrators and one demonstrator was bumped by a vehicle. Keep in mind the the set up for this is that any pedestrian, protestor or not, has the right of way while in the walkway. Of that there is no doubt.

Before long the police showed up and you could tell they were unsure what to do. After a few moments they developed a plan and here you can see therm starting to impliment it:


Their plan, a smart one in my opinion, was to allow the protestors to block traffic for a few moments so long as they did not linger on the walkway, then they would allow traffic to flow for a bit. Then the protestors were allowed to shut it down again.






An officer stands guard as they begin to allow trafficto flow.


A demonstrator displays pictures of 19y/o victim Verlaine MAy Powless.



Officers escorting demonstrators as they shut down South Las Vegas Blvd.