‘Somebody call 911,’ Full video shows Las Vegas courtroom chaos as man attacks judge
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Video shared with the 8 News Now Investigators shows several minutes of chaos after a man jumped a Clark County judge’s bench, attacking her.
Deobra Redden, 30, a three-time felon, was in Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus’ courtroom for sentencing Wednesday on a charge of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm, records said.
Holthus was sitting behind the bench when Redden ran up to her, jumped over the bench and attacked her, video shared with the 8 News Now Investigators showed. Several other people then fought with Redden before throwing him to the ground. An alarm also sounded for several minutes alerting others to the incident.
Several court employees and a marshal then grabbed Redden as Holthus lay under the bench, the video shows.
“Where’s Mary Kay?” one person in the video says as she calls for a marshal to call 911. Several people in the courtroom continue to scream and yell in the ensuing minutes.
A marshal also appears to have a large gash on his forehead.
“Is she talking?” a court employee asks as Holthus lies in the floor. Holthus appears to ask if her staff is OK, before saying Redden smashed her head against the wall. Several minutes later, she stands up and walks out of the room.
A court spokesperson said Holthus’ injuries were “being monitored.” A marshal was taken to a hospital. He was listed in stable condition as of Wednesday afternoon, a spokesperson said.
Redden was previously in front of Holthus on charges of malicious destruction of property. Records show he served prison time on a domestic battery charge for a year, starting in 2021. In that case, a different judge sentenced Redden to prison for a term of 12-30 months. A board granted Redden parole in 2022.
During Wednesday’s court appearance, Redden’s attorney asked Holthus to sentence his client to probation. The prosecutors asked Holthus to sentence Redden to 19-48 months in prison.
“Basically, I would like to tell the courts and everyone here, based on my criminal history, I feel that like I shouldn’t be sent to prison for a sentence time,” Redden told Holthus before the attack.
“Have you looked at your criminal history?” she asked him.
“I looked at it – I just looked at it,” Redden said.
“You lived it, I suppose,” Holthus said. “Three felonies, a [gross misdemeanor], nine misdemeanors, multiple [domestic violence convictions], you got a lot going on, sir.”
“I’m in a better place in my mind, in my mental health, I have a support system, I just got hired a Teamster for the union, making $20 an hour.,” Redden said. “The reason behind every single domestic violence, I’ve been dealing with mental health, and I didn’t know that I was dealing with mental health and they put me in mental health court and I still didn’t know that I had mental health problem.”
Redden appeared to accept the fact Holthus appeared to weigh on his prior convictions in her determination.
“I feel like I shouldn’t be sent to prison, but if it’s appropriate, then you have to do what you have to do,” Redden said.
Redden was booked into the Clark County jail on new charges of battery and battery on a protected person. One count of the battery-on-a-protected-person charge indicated the victim was “substantially harmed.” He was due in court on the new charges at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Clark County courtrooms are often staffed by one marshal and if in-custody defendants are present, at least one corrections officer.
Voters elected Holthus to the bench in 2018. She previously worked for the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. She often hears domestic violence and sex assault cases.
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