Insets: Jordan Ruby and Jesani Carter. Background: The BMW Ruby and Carter crashed after a series of robberies and two killings in Las Vegas, Nevada. (KSNV).
A Nevada man has been sentenced to more than 35 years in prison for killing a woman on the Las Vegas Strip during a robbery carried out on New Year’s Eve, which prosecutors said was chosen because it was the busiest day of the year to “make money.”
Jordan Ruby, 22, received a sentence of 35 years to life Thursday for the murder of 66-year-old Clarice Yamaguchi. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in August.
Ruby’s co-defendant, 24-year-old Jesani Carter, also pleaded guilty to killing Yamaguchi and 60-year-old Hyo Sup “Richard” Um, as well as multiple robbery charges. Carter is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 8.
Yamaguchi and her husband were visiting Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve in 2021. As the couple walked through a mall parking lot toward their vehicle, Ruby and Carter pulled up in a BMW.
A passenger stepped out and demanded Yamaguchi’s purse. When her husband attempted to wrestle the attacker away, a gunshot was fired, striking Yamaguchi.
Yamaguchi’s daughter spoke during Ruby’s sentencing hearing, describing the final moments of her mother’s life.
“The last thing my mom witnessed was my dad fighting with everything he had against her attacker to protect the love of his life,” she said, according to local CBS affiliate KLAS.
Robert Yamaguchi told the court that he believed Ruby should have received a “death sentence.”
“I am really disappointed,” he said.
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Prosecutors described Carter as the “leader of this rampage that went on in our community.” They also said Ruby had demonstrated remorse for his role.
Ruby accepted responsibility and acknowledged that nothing could justify what he had done.
“I should have never been there, and now I have to live with that for the rest of my life and I’m sorry,” he reportedly said. “And I took your loved one away from you, and the rest of her family. I am working on rehabilitating myself, growing, developing, God blessed me with a second chance.”
According to a courtroom account published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Ruby and Carter left the mall and drove to Sahara Las Vegas. There, they allegedly attempted to take a backpack from an employee and fired shots at him before heading to Palace Station.
At Palace Station, police said the pair held a woman at gunpoint in a parking garage. They then took Um’s wallet and shot him to death, authorities said.
The two men fled in the BMW but later crashed into a tree. Both were arrested.
Before reaching a plea agreement, Carter told the Review-Journal in a jailhouse interview conducted soon after his arrest that police had detained the wrong person. He said he was a serious gambler who already owned costly clothing and had no reason to commit robberies.
“I’m gonna be free tomorrow,” he said.
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