Woman who plowed car into Las Vegas crowd had used marijuana: prosecutor

Lakeisha Nicole Holloway, 24, of Oregon, enters the courtroom for her initial appearance at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas, Nevada December 23, 2015. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus

(Reuters) - An Oregon woman charged with murder for plowing her car into a crowd on a Las Vegas Strip sidewalk, killing one person and injuring dozens of others, had marijuana in her system following the incident, county officials said on Wednesday.

Lakeisha Holloway, 24, faces one count of murder through use of a deadly weapon in the death of a 32-year-old Arizona woman who was among those struck by the sedan on Dec. 20.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said a toxicology examination showed that Holloway tested positive for marijuana and marijuana metabolites. The county did not say when Holloway had consumed the marijuana, traces of which can linger in a person's system for days, weeks or months.

Marijuana for medical use is legal in Nevada and Oregon, which also allows recreational use.

Holloway, who police said had her 3-year-old daughter with her in the car, also has been charged with child abuse or neglect and leaving the scene of a collision.

"There is no reasonable explanation or excuse for the actions of this defendant," Wolfson said in a brief statement. "The results of the toxicology test do not change the initial charges filed against Ms. Holloway."

Holloway, who is due back in court on Jan. 20, repeatedly drove her Oldsmobile sedan onto the sidewalk, ramming pedestrians as bystanders pounded on the windows and tried to pull open her car door to stop her, police said.

She was being held in a "medically restricted" jail unit for inmates requiring increased supervision including those on suicide watch, police said.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Chicago; Editing by David Gregorio)