Defense attorney: Fatal shooting of Vegas mom not road rage

LAS VEGAS - Defense attorneys for a 19-year-old man accused of killing a Las Vegas mother of four after a car chase in their neighborhood said Monday that the case has been mischaracterized as road rage.

But lawyers and brothers Conrad and Augustus Claus didn't provide a new account of the slaying before appearing in court with their client, Erich Milton Nowsch Jr. They said they want to review police reports and video evidence before talking about Nowsch's defense in the Feb. 12 shooting that fatally wounded Tammy Meyers, 44, outside her home.

Nowsch stood silently in shackles and wasn't asked to enter a plea during his brief initial court appearance Monday. A judge scheduled a March 10 preliminary hearing.

The 19-year-old remains jailed without bail following his arrest Friday on murder, attempted murder and other charges in connection with Meyers' death.

Police say Nowsch told witnesses he shot at Meyers' car because he thought the people in it were out to get him.

Authorities and family members of Meyers have said the 44-year-old had been giving her teenage daughter a driving lesson at a neighborhood school parking lot when they encountered a silver vehicle and an angry driver.

Meyers went home and fetched her 22-year-old son, Brandon Meyers, who brought his handgun as they went out looking for the vehicle the mother had seen earlier.

Nowsch is accused of opening fire on Meyers' green Buick Park Avenue sedan a few blocks from the Meyers home and then again after a short chase to the cul-de-sac where the Meyers' live about 5 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip.

During the second shooting, Brandon Meyers fired three shots back at a silver Audi with Nowsch and at least one other person inside, police said.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson called the killing of Tammy Meyers a "stupid and senseless act of murder" during the hearing Monday, reports CBS affiliate KLAS-TV.

"No options are off the table and that includes the death penalty in this case," Wolfson added.

Meyers' husband, Robert Meyers, was present for the hearing. He declined to comment afterward.

Robert Meyers has said his wife took on a support role for Nowsch, who lived a block away from the family, after the suicide of Nowsch's father five years ago.

Authorities have said they are still looking for a second suspect in the case.