Murder suspect’s baby skull a factor

LAS VEGAS — A fractured skull suffered by an infant nearly two decades ago at the hands of his father might become a factor as lawyers defend the now 19-year-old man against charges connected to the killing of a Las Vegas mother in a neighborhood gunbattle, his lawyer said Friday.

Attorney Augustus Claus said he wants to investigate the extent and effect of the injury to Erich Milton Nowsch Jr. before deciding whether to use it to defend him.

Nowsch is facing murder, attempted murder and weapon charges in the Feb. 12 shooting of Tammy Meyers.

His father, Erich Milton Nowsch Sr., pleaded guilty in 1996 to child abuse for the injury, according to archived Clark County District Court documents reviewed by The Associated Press. The father killed himself in 2010 at 39 when his son was 14.

Meyers’ death was first characterized as a road-rage attack involving a 44-yearold mother who police said was shot in the head by an assailant who followed her and her 15-year-old daughter home from a late-night driving lesson.

The story changed dramatically after the revelation that Meyers fetched her 22-year-old son, Brandon Meyers, and his gun and drove around the neighborhood looking for a motorist who frightened her.

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