Emotional testimony for ‘Jaya's Law' argues for tougher penalties for wrong-way drivers
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas family made an emotional plea to state lawmakers on Tuesday, telling the story of 3-year-old Jaya Brooks, who was killed in a crash involving a wrong-way driver in December 2023.
The girl's father, her grandmother, Assemblymember Brian Hibbetts and several law enforcement representatives wiped tears away as they urged passage of Assembly Bill 111 (AB111), which would restore criminal penalties for wrong-way drivers on divided highways.
'I think this is one we got wrong. We hear all about wrong-way driving on the news,' Hibbetts said, presenting the bill he is sponsoring. AB111, now known as 'Jaya's Law,' would make it a misdemeanor just two years after a number of traffic offenses were decriminalized and turned into civil infractions.
The horrific crash occurred on Dec. 9, 2023, when a driver in the northwest Las Vegas valley entered U.S. 95 traveling south in the northbound lanes, going all the way from the Kyle Canyon turnoff almost to the Elkhorn Road overpass, a distance of 2.8 miles. A head-on crash killed Jaya, 63-year-old Karen Foote, and 50-year-old Antonia Apton of Bullhead City, Arizona, the wrong-way driver.
'I can't express how much pain I walk around with that'll never go away,' Jan Brooks, Jaya's father, said Tuesday in Carson City.
'Jaya literally won my heart the moment I saw her I always knew she would live her life with a purpose. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me at that time. I won't get another birthday — another second — to spend with her. She was my perfect person,' he said.
Andrea Raney, Jan's father and Jaya's grandmother, said the crash happened when the family was only six minutes from home.
'Jaya was a 3-year-old bundle of love and light,' Raney said. 'She meant so much to all of us. Karen Foote was a special education teacher and a school psychologist from Sparks. She was visiting family in Las Vegas with her husband, Ray,' she said.
'Jaya and Karen should be here,' Raney said.
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Hibbetts offered statistics on wrong-way crashes from 2024: The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department had 634 reports of wrong-way drivers that year. Nevada State Police Highway Patrol had 731. Statewide, 123 wrong-way crashes were reported and 49 people died.
A representative of Metro police spoke in support of AB111, along with the Nevada District Attorneys Association and the City of Henderson.
'Stricter penalties and laws for wrong-way driving can discourage this dangerous action prompting people to think twice before breaking rules, keeping Nevada's roads safer,' Raney told members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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