Bryan Clay, Las Vegas hammer slaying suspect, pleads not guilty
(CBS/AP) LAS VEGAS - A not guilty plea has been entered on behalf of a 22-year-old man jailed in the brutal sex attacks and hammer slayings of a Las Vegas mother and her daughter.
Bryan Devonte Clay Jr. was not asked to enter his own plea. He said little during the brief court hearing Wednesday.
Clay is accused of attacking and killing Ignacia Yadira Martinez and 10-year-old Karla Martinez in their beds, and bludgeoning husband and father Arturo Martinez with a hammer. Martinez is critically injured.
Two boys, ages 9 and 4, were spared during the bloody attack in the Martinez home.
Clay also is accused of trying to rape a 50-year-old woman in a separate attack hours earlier not far from the home.
According to Lt. Ray Steiber, Clay had no connection to the family of five.
"This was a complete stranger killing a mother and daughter and attacking the father," Steiber told The Associated Press. "I've been doing this (police work) 24 years, and you don't see cases like this. I can't even put this into words."
Nothing was taken from the house, and investigators were unsure of the motive for the attack.
"There's no rhyme or reason to why (it happened)," he said, adding Clay doesn't have a "significant" criminal history.
Steiber said he didn't know why the two boys, 9 and 4, were spared in the home invasion attack.
The boys were placed in protective custody with the Clark County Department of Family Services after the attack, and police declined to say where they now are. "They're safe and OK," Steiber said.
An evidence hearing was set for June 15.