John Jefferson
Inset: Fernando Jimenez appears in a booking photo (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department); Main image: an intersection in the Nevada desert where the defendant’s ex-wife was beaten on June 12, 2024 (Google Maps)
A Nevada man faces a litany of charges for brutally attacking his ex-wife after they lost custody of their children, police in Las Vegas say.
Now, Fernando Jimenez, 47, stands accused of one count each of attempted murder, battery via domestic violence resulting in substantial bodily harm, and domestic battery by strangulation, according to Clark County Jail records.
The defendant later allegedly told police he was “trying to good for his family.”
The incident occurred on June 12 in far eastern Clark County — well outside the Sin City limits — along Nevada State Route 147, at the intersection of Lake Mead Boulevard and Pabco Road, according to a police report obtained by Las Vegas-based CBS affiliate KLAS.
Law enforcement say they were flagged down by a woman with “multiple bruises and blood coming from her head.” The woman allegedly described getting into a physical dispute with her ex-husband after their children had been taken away by the state.
Witnesses more or less corroborated the woman’s version of events, police reportedly said.
The victim and the defendant were initially in a verbal argument on the day in question, witnesses reportedly said. The animosity allegedly turned violent when the man went for the woman’s throat and began choking her for some three minutes. Next, the woman was seen being pushed or shoved out of the open driver’s side car window by the defendant, who fell after her, witnesses said, according to the police report. The tumble was followed by the man allegedly grabbing his ex-wife by her neck and hair — dragging her down a hill in the desert near a ditch.
One witness was identified as someone who had been living in a vehicle with their sister and Jimenez for two days because they had all been evicted from their home. The witness said the former couple had been arguing over being homeless as well as the recent decision by Child Protective Services to take custody of their six children.
The ex-wife had been driving the vehicle, the witness went on to tell police, with Jimenez in the front passenger seat, according to the police report obtained by the TV station. Then, when the argument later picked up in earnest, Jimenez allegedly lunged at his ex-wife with both hands and extreme force — sending them both through the window, at least partially. After that, the witness said, the defendant choked and repeatedly slammed the woman onto the ground despite her pleas for him to stop. The witness went on to say Jimenez shouted “he was going to kill her” while he tried to drag her down the hill.
Somewhere along the way, however, the defendant’s footing became unsteady and he fell, the alleged victim and witness both told police. That reprieve gave the woman enough time to run away and flag down law enforcement — who said they later found Jimenez roughly one-quarter-mile east of where they were flagged. He was allegedly lying facedown on the road, resting his head on two empty beer bottles.
Jimenez, for his part, allegedly had a story to tell at first — but later declined to answer questions after being led out of the hospital.
In his initial interview with police, the defendant allegedly said he “feared for his life” and was “only trying to do good things for his family,” according to the arrest report obtained by KLAS.
As for the incident in question, Jimenez allegedly said he remembered being parked and eating dinner in the front passenger seat of the car when an unknown man, one of two people who were sitting in the back, picked him up and threw him out the driver’s side front window.
The defendant is slated to be arraigned on June 18. He is currently being detained in the Clark County Jail on $100,000 bond.
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