Sisters walking to store to buy snacks mowed down on sidewalk, killing 1, by man going 112 mph with his 10-year-old son in front seat: Police
The routine task of walking to a neighborhood convenience store to buy snacks is a mundane rite of passage for millions of American teenagers. On a warm Saturday afternoon in North Las Vegas, Nevada, this simple errand became the backdrop for an unimaginable tragedy.
Two teenage sisters, walking arm-in-arm along a suburban sidewalk, were violently mowed down by an out-of-control luxury vehicle. The car, driven by an impaired motorist weaving through city streets at an astronomical speed of 112 miles per hour, ran a red light before jumping the curb. Sitting in the front passenger seat of the speeding vehicle was the driver’s own ten-year-old son, who watched the horrific scene unfold.
The catastrophic impact killed seventeen-year-old Janiah Grant at the scene and left her nineteen-year-old sister, Leilani Wigfall, fighting for her life with permanent, life-altering injuries. The disaster sent shockwaves through the local community, igniting intense public outrage over the sheer recklessness of the driver and sparking a tense, ongoing battle within the Nevada justice system.
The Fateful Errand
The victims, Janiah Grant and Leilani Wigfall, were exceptionally close sisters living with their family in North Las Vegas. Described by their mother, Angela Anderson, as a fiercely loving and protective duo, the girls were on the precipice of reaching a major milestone together. Both sisters were enrolled at ThrivePoint Academy of Nevada and were scheduled to graduate together in late May. Janiah, an academically gifted student who excelled at mathematics, was graduating an entire year ahead of schedule. Her family recalled her as a quiet, deeply observant, and reserved young woman who loved baking sweets and spending time with her pet cat.
On Saturday afternoon, May 2, the sisters decided to take a short break from their day to walk to a nearby store. It was an ordinary routine to pick up some favorite snacks. They stayed strictly on the designated pedestrian sidewalk, completely oblivious to the danger barreling toward them from behind.
At approximately 3:40 p.m., Triquan Hughes, a thirty-one-year-old resident of North Las Vegas, was operating a black BMW X5 sports utility vehicle on Simmons Street. Sitting directly next to him in the front passenger seat was his ten-year-old son. According to numerous witnesses and police investigators, Hughes was driving with profound negligence, aggressively weaving in and out of the mid-afternoon traffic as he approached the major intersection of Simmons Street and Craig Road.
Reconstruction of the Impact
The speed limit on the stretch of Simmons Street approaching the intersection transitions between 35 and 45 miles per hour—speeds designed to ensure safety in an area heavily trafficked by vehicles, shoppers, and pedestrians. However, data later recovered by North Las Vegas police investigators from the BMW’s internal electronic modules revealed an entirely different reality. Hughes was accelerating aggressively. Just seconds before entering the intersection, the vehicle’s telemetry recorded a speed of 101 miles per hour. By the time it reached the crosswalk, it had reached a staggering 112 miles per hour.
As Hughes barreled into the busy intersection, the traffic signal governing his lane had already turned solid red. Disregarding the signal entirely, the BMW slammed through the red light and clipped a Kia passenger car that was legally attempting a turn on a flashing yellow arrow. The force of the high-speed collision with the Kia completely compromised the steering and stability of Hughes’ heavy SUV.
The vehicle was effectively catapulted off the asphalt, losing all traction before jumping the curb and plowing onto the sidewalk. The sisters had no time to react or dive for safety. The speeding BMW struck the two teenagers with catastrophic force before smashing into a concrete wall and snapping a heavy utility pole.
Emergency response units arrived to a scene of absolute devastation. Janiah Grant had sustained catastrophic bodily injuries from the primary impact and was pronounced dead at the scene. Emergency medical technicians found Leilani Wigfall critically injured but clinging to life. Amazingly, neither Triquan Hughes nor his ten-year-old son sustained serious physical injuries in the crash. According to arresting officers, Hughes immediately exited the vehicle, grabbed his son from the passenger side, and stepped away from the wreckage, showing what onlookers described as a deeply indifferent demeanor toward the human carnage he had caused just feet away.
A Mother’s Grief and a Long Road to Recovery
The sudden loss of Janiah shattered her family, leaving her mother, Angela Anderson, to navigate a dual reality of intense grief for her deceased child and bedside vigilance for her surviving one. Leilani was rushed to a local trauma hospital with massive injuries, including bleeding on the brain, a fractured jaw, multiple missing teeth, a broken arm, and fractures in both of her legs.
For days, doctors monitored Leilani’s intracranial pressure and performed around-the-clock CT scans to ensure her brain bleed remained stable. She underwent multiple extensive orthopedic surgeries to reconstruct her shattered lower limbs. Miraculously, Leilani was taken off a mechanical ventilator just a few days after the crash, allowing her to speak to her mother and take her first sips of juice.
Demonstrating immense resilience, Leilani was discharged from the hospital just weeks after the incident. On May 28—the day she and Janiah were originally supposed to walk across the stage together—Leilani attended her high school graduation in a wheelchair. The faculty at ThrivePoint Academy of Nevada left an empty, decorated seat adorned with a cap, gown, and flowers in honor of Janiah, presenting the family with her posthumous diploma during an emotional moment of silence.
Criminal Charges and Chemical Impairment
Following the initial crash, North Las Vegas police arrested Triquan Hughes at the scene. Responding officers noted that Hughes strongly smelled of alcohol, and he was initially booked into the Clark County Detention Center on high-level felony reckless driving charges, child abuse/endangerment, and operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license.
Subsequent toxicological testing on Hughes’ blood samples revealed a more complex picture of impairment. While his blood alcohol concentration was ultimately determined to be below Nevada’s statutory legal limit of 0.08%, the comprehensive chemical screen revealed exceptionally high levels of active Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana. The metabolite levels in his blood were significantly above the state’s legal threshold for driving under the influence.
Armed with the conclusive toxicology reports, Clark County prosecutors officially amended the criminal complaint, adding two heavy felony counts of driving under the influence causing death or substantial bodily harm. In June, a Clark County grand jury returned a formal indictment cementing all major felony charges against him.
Judicial Controversy and Legal Failures
The legal proceedings surrounding Hughes sparked intense public controversy regarding bail and pretrial release monitoring. During an early court appearance in May, prosecutors argued that because Hughes had driven 112 miles per hour through a red light with his child in the car, killing one teenager and maiming another, his initial $250,000 bail should be doubled to $500,000.
However, Justice of the Peace Pro-Tem Joel Mann denied the state’s request, keeping the bail at $250,000. He ruled that the severe nature of the allegations had already been factored into the original amount. Mann warned Hughes that if he managed to post bond, he would be subjected to intensive electronic monitoring and a strict sobriety order prohibiting the use of alcohol or marijuana.
The decision drew sharp condemnation from anti-DUI advocacy groups and the victims’ family, who labeled the stable bail a “slap in the face.” Their fears regarding Hughes’ compliance were validated just weeks later. After successfully securing his release on bond, Hughes completely failed to comply with his pretrial conditions. Specifically, he failed to return an electronic transdermal drug-testing patch designed to continuous monitor his sweat for prohibited substances.
On June 2, Hughes was hauled back into North Las Vegas Justice Court. Prosecutor Corey Hallquist argued that by failing to submit the testing patch, Hughes had completely evaded accountability, leaving authorities entirely blind as to whether he was continuing to abuse drugs or alcohol while out on the streets. Finding him in direct violation of his release terms, Justice of the Peace Kalani Hoo revoked Hughes’ initial bond, ordered bailiffs to immediately handcuff him, and remanded him back into custody, drastically raising his bail to $1 million.
Triquan Hughes remains behind bars at the Clark County Detention Center as he awaits trial. He faces decades in state prison if convicted on all felony counts of DUI causing death, reckless driving, child abuse, and driving without a license. For the family of Janiah Grant and Leilani Wigfall, no eventual verdict will ever fully heal the void left on that warm Saturday afternoon, but they continue to advocate for safer streets, urging motorists to recognize that the simple choice to speed or drive impaired carries permanent, fatal consequences.
