LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A jury trial for a man accused of killing a toddler has been delayed for a fourth time.
Terrell Rhodes, 29, is charged in the murder of 2-year-old Amari Nicholson, his girlfriend’s son, on May 5, 2021. Rhodes appeared in Clark County District Court on Tuesday.
His defense attorney, Robert Langford, said that he needs more time to prepare. The Clark County District Attorney’s Office did not object to the delay. The trial was rescheduled to Sept. 11.
Rhodes admitted to police that he killed the boy at the Emerald Suites in the central valley near the Las Vegas Strip while the boy’s mother was out of town, according to police.
Rhodes said that after the child had urinated on himself, he hit Amari three or four times with his fist, the toddler appeared to turn blue and stopped breathing, detectives said.
Nicholson initially reported that a woman claiming to be a family member took the child which spurred a community-wide search for nearly a week. Rhodes then admitted to investigators that he buried the boy near the Emerald Suites, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported. The child’s body was found.
Rhodes is charged with one count of first-degree murder for causing Amari’s death. He is also charged with two counts of attempted murder, four counts of assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon, and four counts of resisting a police officer with the use of a firearm after a grabbed a detective’s gun while being interviewed on May 11, 2021.
In May 2022, one year after Rhodes was arrested, a motion to continue the trial was granted. In August 2022, the trial was pushed back again. In January 2023, the trial was rescheduled to April.