The Las Vegas bicyclist was killed after a van passenger leaned out a window and shoved her, police said. The passenger was also killed when he fell out of the vehicle's window.
The husband of a Las Vegas bicyclist is in mourning after a man leaned from a moving vehicle and shoved the woman from her bicycle, then died himself after falling out of the van's window.
Michelle "Shelli" Weissman, 56 was killed during a Sunday morning bike ride when she was pushed off her bike on Hollywood Boulevard, where she was in the bicycle lane, police said. Giovanni 'Gio' Medina Barajas, propelled by momentum, then plunged out of the open window and struck his head on a post.
Both were declared dead at the scene on Oct. 25.
Weissman's widower, Lonny, told a local station the attack was "something I could not imagine or dream up if I even took the hardest effort I possibly could."
He called his wife "a ray of sunshine," and added, "What happened was a flat-out horrendous and unnecessary tragedy that was 100% avoidable."
Las Vegas Metro Police called the incident "senseless."
“It’s an absolutely senseless act,” Homicide Squad Lt Raymond Spencer told the Las Vegas Sun. “There’s no reason behind it... other than complete stupidity.”
The van's driver, who allegedly fled the scene, was later arrested and charged with murder with a deadly weapon, failing to stop at the scene of an accident and violating parole, the Clark County District Attorney's office told Inside Edition Digital.
Rodrigo Cruz, 22, allegedly told investigators he did not stop because he was on parole, and thought his friend was not injured when he fell through the passenger side window, police said.
Cruz is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 2021, according to online records.
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