Attorney General Laxalt Announces Guilty Pleas of Lovelock Inmate for Battery With a Deadly Weapon and Attempted Murder


February 5, 2018

Carson City, NV – Today, Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt announced that Justin Tyler Mendoza, 22, pleaded guilty in two cases involving his conduct while serving a term in Lovelock Correctional Center. Appearing in court this morning, Mendoza pleaded guilty to one count of battery by a prisoner with the use of a deadly weapon, a category “B” felony. This charge stems from an incident on April 11, 2017 when Mendoza stabbed a fellow inmate in the neck with a sharpened metal ballpoint pen. In a separate case, Mendoza also pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder, a category “B” felony. The charge results from his stabbing of Corrections Officer Trainee Mason Hill on May 19, 2017, also at Lovelock Correctional Center. While Officer Hill was escorting Inmate Mendoza to the shower, Mendoza slipped his right hand out of the wrist restraint and attempted to kill Officer Hill by using a sharpened piece of plastic fashioned into a stabbing device.

    “In the very place this defendant was sent to reform his behavior, he has twice exhibited volatile behavior that has put other inmates and staff at great risk,” said Laxalt. “My office will aggressively prosecute attacks on law enforcement officers."

      Attempted murder is punishable by a term of incarceration in the Nevada Department of Corrections for a period of 2 to 20 years. Battery by a prisoner with the use of a deadly weapon is punishable by a term of incarceration in the Nevada Department of Corrections for a period of 2 to 10 years. The sentencing hearing for Mendoza is scheduled for April 2, 2018 at 10:30 a.m.in the Eleventh Judicial District Court.

        This case was investigated by the Nevada Department of Corrections, Office of the Inspector General. The Attorney General’s Criminal Prosecution Unit is prosecuting the case.

          To view the criminal Information for the battery charge, click here. To view the criminal Information for the attempted murder charge, click here.

             2018-02-05_Mendoza_Justin_Tyler

            MENDOZA, JUSTIN TYLER

              (Photo courtesy of the Nevada Department of Corrections)

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