Teen charged in death of retired police chief deemed 'unfit' to stand trial

LAS VEGAS, NV - A Nevada judge has ruled that one of the teenagers who struck a retired police chief riding his bicycle with a vehicle is "unfit" to stand trial.

According to Fox News, 19-year-old Jesus Ayala has been moved from jail to a secure Nevada psychiatric facility for evaluation, treatment, and possibly trial if he is found competent. With this temporary ruling, the commitment order also suspends criminal charges against him.

KTNV reported that on Wednesday, October 9th, Ayala was in court for a competency hearing. Judge Christy Craig ruled that Ayala was incompetent and will be sent to Lake's Crossing Center, which is a maximum security psychiatric facility located in Sparks, Nevada. Court records show that medical staff have been evaluating Ayala since mid-August. In September, records show that doctors were split on whether he should be ruled competent or incompetent after completing some psychological evaluations. Some of the medical staff believe that Ayala has some brain damage.

A jury trial was scheduled for November 12, however, that date could change due to Ayala being ruled incompetent to stand trial. Ayala is facing several charges, along with his co-defendant, Jzamir Keys, for a hit-and-run crash where the duo allegedly intentionally hit and killed retired police chief Andreas Probst, who was riding his bicycle on the road. 

Both Ayala and Keys, who were 16 at the time of the incident, pleaded not guilty back in 2023 to murder and other charges in the death of Probst. Probst was 64-years-old when he was killed and was a retired former police chief in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell. Probst was riding his bicycle when video showed that he was struck from behind by the driver of an alleged stolen vehicle and left the fatally injured on the side of the road.

In a video of the hit-and-run, the driver asks, "Ready?" as the giggling passenger records the entire collision on his iPhone. The passenger tells the driver, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, hit his (expletive)," he tells the driver, who then veers the car into the bike lane behind Probst. The passenger turns, points his iPhone out the window and records Probst rolling to a stop on the side of the road.

In the 31-second clip, the passenger says, "Damn, that (expletive) got knocked out!" The panicked driver says, "Oh, (expletive), we need to get out of here." Police arrested Ayala later that same day and allegedly bragged to the cop that he would get off easily because he was a juvenile. The officer's bodycam footage caught him saying, "I'll be out in 30 days." The officer replied, "You might be out of juvie in 30 days, but moved to an adult jail because that's how bad it is."

The incident report noted that Ayala showed no remorse for the man's death. He said, "It's just a (expletive) hit-and-run. Slap on the wrist." Keys was arrested a few days later after he shared the horrific video from the iPhone with friends on Instagram and the video started circulating at his local high school. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson said that it was a "very emotional video" and one that is unique when it comes to criminal investigations.

He said, "Rarely do we, as investigators, and rarely does the public have front-row seats to the act that's about to occur and the suspects' beliefs and what they're believing they're doing at the time. I can't think of too many cases I've ever had where you have the audio and the video of what they were thinking and doing before the murder, as they commit the murder, and after the murder. It's a very emotional video, and you know what you're seeing and can't believe it when you're watching it."

Ayala is also facing a separate attempted murder charge for allegedly attacking a man and stabbing him on June 27, 2023. As for Keys, court records show that he is due back in court on October 22nd. Following the news of the ruling on Ayala being incompetent to stand trial, the widow of Probst expressed her frustrations. According to reports, Crystal Probst said, "He has the competency to stand trial for my husband's murder!" 

She added, "He has the competency to waive the conflict of interest with his public defender. He has the competency to steal numerous vehicles while committing his crimes. He has the competency to state when arrested he will be out of jail in 30 days. He has the competency to not speak to investigators and not waive his Miranda rights. He has the competency to send me vile language and continues attempts to try and intimidate me while in court proceedings."