Mother Sues Casino, Suspect in Girl’s Death

The mother of a 7-year-old Los Angeles girl who was slain in a Nevada casino has filed a lawsuit against the resort and the teenager accused of the crime.

The action came as Clark County commissioners imposed a curfew on arcades and enacted other safety measures designed to avoid a similar tragedy.

The suit was filed Tuesday in Clark County District Court on behalf of Yolanda Manuel, the mother of Sherrice Iverson. The suit, which does not list a damage amount, was filed by Steven Lerman & Associates, the same law firm that won millions of dollars from the Los Angeles Police Department in the Rodney G. King beating case.

The lawsuit names the Primadonna Resort and Casino, parent company of the Primm Valley Hotel, and 18-year-old Jeremy Strohmeyer of Long Beach.

Strohmeyer is charged with sexual assault and murder in the May 25 slaying of the girl in a restroom at the hotel on the Nevada-California border.

The lawsuit charges that the hotel was negligent in supervising an arcade where the girl had been playing before her death.

Hotel officials declined to comment on the lawsuit. But they said at the time of the killing that security officers returned the girl to her family three times in the predawn hours on the morning of the killing, saying she should be supervised by family members.

The girl was at the casino with her father, LeRoy, and her 14-year-old brother. Iverson and Manuel are estranged.

The county took steps Tuesday to ban minors from arcades during the night. The law applies to all arcades in unincorporated areas of the county.

Under the new law, those under age 18 will be prohibited from arcades from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays, and midnight to 5 a.m. on weekends and school holidays, unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The law requires security guards in arcades and other security measures such as cameras in small game rooms.

The law also requires special training for security guards, such as how to detect pedophiles and child stalkers.