Brenda Stokes Wilson

Former blackjack dealer Brenda Stokes Wilson, 50, is accused of killing 10-year-old Jade Morris and going to the Bellagio and attacking a co-worker.

Wilson was arrested on Dec. 21 at the Strip resort after she slashed the face of fellow blackjack dealer Joyce Rhone, according to police reports.

Earlier that day, Wilson had taken Morris, her ex-boyfriend’s daughter, out shopping.

The girl never returned home, triggering a search that led to the discovery of her body six days later.

The Clark County Coroner’s Office determined Morris died from multiple stab wounds.

A grand jury indicted Wilson on charges of first-degree kidnapping, murder, burglary, attempted murder, battery resulting in substantial bodily harm and mayhem — all with use of a deadly weapon.

Trial is set for June 23, 2014, in front of District Judge Kathleen Delaney.

Woman pleads not guilty in Vegas girl's death

USAToday.com

March 6, 2013

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 50-year-old former blackjack dealer has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, murder and other charges in the death of her ex-boyfriend's daughter, and the slashing attack of a co-worker at a Las Vegas Strip casino.

Brenda Stokes Wilson entered the plea Wednesday before Clark County District Court Judge Kathleen Delaney.

Trial was set for July 15.

Stokes Wilson is accused of killing 10-year-old Jade Morris during a Christmas shopping outing in December, and of attacking a 44-year-old Joyce Rhone with razors at the Bellagio casino later that night.

Stokes Wilson was a friend of the girl's father. Police and family members say they think the attacks were sparked by jealousy.

After the plea, the girl's father, Philip Morris, said, "I don't know why she doesn't just plead guilty."

Grand jury returns indictment in stabbing death of 10-year-old, Bellagio slashing

By Jackie Valley - LasVegasSun.com

Friday, Feb. 22, 2013

The woman accused of killing 10-year-old Jade Morris and attacking a co-worker at the Bellagio has been indicted by a Clark County grand jury on murder and attempted murder charges.

Brenda Stokes Wilson, 50, has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, murder, burglary, attempted murder, battery resulting in substantial bodily harm and mayhem — all with use of a deadly weapon, according to an indictment returned Thursday.

The grand jury indictment, handed up Friday, means Wilson’s case will proceed to trial in Clark County District Court.

Wilson is scheduled to appear March 6 for her arraignment in District Court.

Wilson was arrested the night of Dec. 21 after she slashed Joyce Rhone, a fellow blackjack dealer, with razor blades at the Bellagio, according to a Metro Police arrest report. Rhone survived the attack.

Hours earlier, Wilson had picked up Morris, the daughter of a man she once dated, to go shopping. The girl never returned home, triggering a search that led to the discovery of her body six days later.

The Clark County Coroner’s Office determined Morris died from multiple stab wounds.

Prosecutors say Morris’ blood was found on the steering wheel and door handle of the car Wilson was driving Dec. 21.

Wilson remains in the Clark County Detention Center without bail.

Child slaying, slashing suspect has history of violence

By Mike Blasky - Las Vegas Review-Journal

January 3, 2013

No one seems to know exactly what happened that day in Mississippi nearly 20 years ago. At the same time, everybody seems to know.

Small towns have a way of turning people into legends, and Brenda Stokes certainly fits the bill in Moss Point, a tiny community about 30 miles east of Biloxi, near Mississippi's southeastern border with the Gulf of Mexico.

What's known is this: Stokes, who last week was charged in Las Vegas with murder in the stabbing death of her fiance's 10-year-old daughter, was indicted in 1994 on aggravated assault charges by a Mississippi county grand jury. She was accused of attacking a former lover with a razor blade.

"Manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life and being a means likely to produce death or serious bodily injury," the indictment said.

According to Moss Point residents and the local newspaper, serious bodily injury was an understatement. They say Stokes nearly cut off Daryl J. Stennis' penis.

"It's gossip, yes, but in this case it's absolutely true," said a longtime resident who asked not to be named.

Records in the case have disappeared over time. Moss Point police records before 2000 were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and neither the district attorney's office nor the county clerk has Stokes' arrest report.

But half a dozen people with ties to Stokes and Moss Point told the Review-Journal a similar story:

On Nov. 30, 1993, Stennis and Stokes met for a last-minute rendezvous before Stennis' wedding to another woman. Some say Stokes, who had two children with Stennis, had planned the attack in a jealous rage.

Philip Morris, recently engaged to Stokes, said she admitted the incident to him years later and even kept a record of her statement to investigators.

"I read the transcripts," Morris said. "She almost cut his (penis) off."

Morris has no reason to defend Stokes, who has been charged in daughter Jade Morris' killing. She was found stabbed to death last week in an undeveloped North Las Vegas neighborhood.

But he defended her, anyway. He said Stokes had a restraining order against Stennis and was acting in self-defense.

"On the day of his wedding, (Stennis) came to Brenda's house, kicked the door in and tried to rape her," Morris said.

Asked why Stokes was charged by authorities and Stennis was identified as a victim, Morris didn't know.

"Probably because he was the one cut and bleeding," he said.

Other residents said that the rape accusation was fabricated and that Stokes was lying in wait for Stennis.

"She laced her bed with razors to get one wherever she could in bed, and that's how she got close enough to him to slice the penis," said one resident interviewed by the Review-Journal.

The charges against Stokes were dismissed after Stennis refused to testify against the mother of his children.

When contacted this week, he was still unwilling to talk about the case.

"I have no information on that," Stennis said.

A History of Violence

Stokes' defense attorney said Wednesday that his client has no criminal convictions and isn't a violent person. But her actions in Mississippi, taken in context with the allegations in Las Vegas, paint a picture of a woman with an affinity for razor blades and a history of rage.

In 2001, Stokes was charged with misdemeanor battery after she hit her supervisor at America West airlines in the head with a hot coffee pot at McCarran International Airport, court records show.

The attack happened after the supervisor had a job performance meeting with Stokes. The case was dismissed after she successfully completed counseling.

Stokes, 50, is accused of using razor blades in a Dec. 21 attack on Bellagio blackjack dealer Joyce Rhone, 44. And Jade, who was last seen with Stokes a few hours before the Bellagio attack, was stabbed 40 times.

In Moss Point, residents said Stokes worked in the casino industry in Mississippi and may have transferred within her company to Las Vegas, eventually ending up working at Bellagio.

Others say Stokes probably was following her brother, Donald "Tiger" Stokes, a welterweight boxer who fought in Las Vegas in a title bout against Hector Lopez in 1992.

Records in Clark County say she married Adrien Gullette Wilson in 1998. It's unclear whether the couple ever divorced. Wilson, who no longer lives in Las Vegas, declined comment.

Morris, who met Stokes four years ago, said he never saw any signs of anger or violence.

He denied speculation that a love triangle or an affair with another woman caused Stokes to harm his daughter. He said he was working two jobs in Montana for the past year and had no interaction with Rhone, the dealer Stokes attacked.

Stokes didn't even seem jealous when Morris moved in with a woman in Montana to save money, he said.

"Me and Brenda had no discrepancies. It was A-OK. You can't get a better relationship than the one me and Brenda had, and that's why I'm baffled," he said.

He said that after her arrest, he heard rumblings from Stokes' friends at Bellagio that she often said she disliked Jade.

But no one ever said anything to him, Morris said. Had he known, he said, he would have acted.

"If you don't love my baby, you don't love me," he said.

Jade's funeral will be Wednesday.

Morris said it has been difficult to stay positive without his daughter. He has no money, no car and no job, but that doesn't matter much. He worked all of those days in Montana with Jade on his mind, he said.

He remembers Jade doing her homework without anyone asking, singing "the daddy song" to him and refusing candy and soda because "she had sweets last week."

As for Stokes, whom he once loved and whose name is tattooed on his arm?

"There's a thin line between love and hate," he said.

Staff writers Brian Haynes and Francis McCabe contributed to this report.

Woman charged with murder in death of Vegas girl

AP News

January 2, 2013

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A blackjack dealer was charged with kidnapping and murder Wednesday in the death of her ex-boyfriend's daughter, adding to existing felony charges she faces in a slashing attack hours later against a co-worker at a Las Vegas Strip casino.

Brenda Stokes Wilson, 50, picked up 10-year-old Jade Morris to go Christmas shopping last month, but instead took her to a vacant lot and killed her, according to police.

Prosecutor Robert Daskas told a judge that DNA tests found the child's blood on clothing Stokes Wilson wore that day and on the driver's door handle and steering wheel of the car she borrowed.

"She had blood on her hands," Daskas said.

Stokes Wilson's lawyer, Tony Liker, said his client intends to plead not guilty to the charges against her.

Prosecutors haven't disclosed a motive for the attacks.

Police and family members, however, think the actions were sparked by jealousy. They have said Stokes Wilson thought the child's father, Philip Morris, had recently begun dating Joyce Rhone, the woman slashed at the casino.

"It was just her imagination," said the girl's grandfather, Philip Tucker, who said he spoke with Rhone by telephone a day after the attack at a Bellagio casino blackjack table.

"There was nothing going on" between his son and Rhone, Tucker added.

Attempts to reach Rhone, 44, on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

Stokes Wilson was a trusted family friend who dated Jade Morris' father for about four years, police have said.

Stokes Wilson picked up the girl about 5 p.m. Dec. 21, returned the car to its owner a little after 7 p.m. and was wrestled to the ground at the Bellagio about 9:30 p.m. with razor blades in each hand and three more razors in a bag, police said.

She told police she asked her doctor days earlier to admit her to a hospital because she felt like she wanted to hurt someone. She also told police she had stopped taking prescribed anti-anxiety medication.

Liker, Stokes Wilson's lawyer, declined to say Wednesday whether he might seek an insanity defense.

He said Stokes Wilson was a single mother of three who had a steady job as a blackjack dealer. Liker said Stokes Wilson had a clean previous criminal record, and he believes she's innocent.

"She doesn't meet the profile of someone who would kill a 10-year-old girl," the defense attorney said.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis set an evidence hearing for March 28 on murder, kidnapping, burglary, attempted murder, battery causing substantial bodily harm and mayhem charges — each with use of a deadly weapon — that could get Stokes Wilson life in prison or the death penalty.

At the prosecution's request, the judge ordered Stokes Wilson held without bail.

Stokes Wilson stood in shackles and blue jail scrubs in court Wednesday, flanked by armed police and court officers, while Liker lost a bid to allow her to wear street clothes and a wig during court appearances.

The judge said jail garb was sufficient in Justice Court, and that Stokes Wilson would be entitled to wear her customary wig and street clothes if the case reaches a jury.

Liker alleged the DNA evidence against his client was inconclusive and that the girl's parents should be considered suspects.

Outside court, the girl's grandmother, Brenda Morris, repeated the belief that Stokes Wilson plotted to kill the child to hurt Philip Morris, who was in Billings, Mont., at the time.

Philip Morris did not attend Wednesday's court hearing.

Brenda Morris said family members are planning a Jan. 9 funeral.

In the court hallway, Brenda Morris' fiance, Terrance Williams, dismissed Liker's allegations as "trying to build a smoke screen to blame someone else."

Brenda Stokes Killed 10-Year-Old Jade Morris Before Attacking Co-Worker With Razor Blades: Police

By Ken Ritter - Associated Press - HuffingtonPost.com

December 29, 2012

LAS VEGAS — Police suspect that a casino worker killed a 10-year-girl before going to a Las Vegas resort and allegedly slashing the face of a co-worker with razor blades.

The search for Jade Morris ended Friday afternoon when officials confirmed that it was her body that was found a day earlier in an undeveloped housing tract.

The Clark County coroner's office said she died of multiple stab wounds. Jade was last seen Dec. 21 with family friend Brenda Stokes Wilson, who picked her up to go Christmas shopping.

Wilson, 50, returned the car she had borrowed for the outing to a friend two hours later. Jade never came back. Investigators later found blood on the driver's door and steering wheel of the 2007 Saab sedan.

Later that night, Wilson was wrestled to the ground with razors in each hand after allegedly slashing the face of a female co-worker at the Bellagio casino.

A judge raised her bail from $60,000 to $600,000 Friday morning after she was identified as the prime suspect in the child's killing.

"It's no secret the defendant is the suspect in the murder of 10-year-old Jade Morris," prosecutor Robert Daskas told Senior Clark County District Court Judge Joseph Bonaventure at the hearing.

Later Friday, Las Vegas police homicide Capt. Chris Jones said investigators were still moving forward.

"As soon as we get all the evidence in that we need, we'll book her on the murder charges," he said.

Wilson has been jailed since the 21st on felony battery with a weapon, burglary and mayhem charges that could get her decades in prison.

Police said she offered no help in the search for the missing girl. Murder and kidnapping charges could get her life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

On Thursday, Las Vegas police responding to a 911 call found a girl's body in unkempt brush near palm trees in a small traffic circle about 10 miles from the downtown Las Vegas outlet mall where Stokes was to have taken the girl shopping.

On Friday evening, Jones called the slaying "unfathomable."

"Even having our jobs, we still can't wrap our heads around this," he said. "A lot of people think that just because of our positions we can understand it, but we can't."

In court Friday morning, Wilson stood flanked by eight police officers as her lawyer, Tony Liker, clutching a Bible and a copy of the charging documents, asked the judge to postpone arraignment until Wednesday to give him time to meet with Wilson.

Wilson, who had been identified by police and prosecutors as Brenda Stokes, told the judge Friday that her full name was Brenda Stokes Wilson.

Jade's father, Philip Morris, was removed from court Wednesday by armed court officers after shouting questions about his daughter's whereabouts to Wilson. He did not attend Friday's hearing.

The two dated for several years, and Jade had a long and trusting relationship with Wilson, according to the girl's grandfather, Philip Tucker.

Tucker said Philip Morris lived in Billings, Mont., and worked at a Flying J truck stop for more than a year. He would stay with Wilson when he visited Las Vegas, Tucker said.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the slaying. But Tucker said Wilson appeared to believe that the face-slashing victim had become romantically involved with Philip Morris.

Wilson picked up Jade for their shopping expedition around 5 p.m. Later, she got a ride with a friend to the Bellagio. She allegedly attacked her co-worker, Joyce Rhone, at around 9:30 p.m.

Rhone, 44, was hospitalized with deep cuts on her face, including one from her ear to the edge of her mouth.

Wilson told investigators that she visited her doctor last week, seeking to be admitted to a hospital "due to feeling like she wanted to hurt someone."

Associated Press writers Hannah Dreier and Michelle Rindels contributed to this report.

Jade Morris Disappearance: Las Vegas Police To Identify Girl's Body On Friday

By Ken Ritter - HuffingtonPost.com

December 28, 2012

LAS VEGAS — Authorities said Friday they believe a casino worker killed a 10-year-girl several days before Christmas, then went to the Bellagio resort on the Las Vegas Strip and slashed the face of a co-worker with a pair of razor blades.

The search for Jade Morris ended Friday afternoon when officials confirmed that her body had been found Thursday in an undeveloped housing tract.

She died of multiple stab wounds, the Clark County coroner's office said.

Jade was last seen Dec. 21 with family friend Brenda Stokes Wilson, who picked her up to go Christmas shopping.

Wilson, 50, returned the car she had borrowed for the outing to a friend two hours later. Jade never came back. Investigators later found blood on the driver's door and steering wheel of the 2007 Saab sedan.

Later that night, Wilson was wrestled to the ground with razors in each hand after allegedly slashing the face of a female co-worker at the Bellagio casino.

A judge raised her bail to $60,000 from $600,000 Friday morning after she was identified as the prime suspect in the child's killing.

"It's no secret the defendant is the suspect in the murder of 10-year-old Jade Morris," prosecutor Robert Daskas told Senior Clark County District Court Judge Joseph Bonaventure at the hearing.

Later Friday, Las Vegas police homicide Capt. Chris Jones said investigators were still moving forward.

"As soon as we get all the evidence in that we need, we'll book her on the murder charges," he said.

Wilson has been jailed since the 21st on felony battery with a weapon, burglary and mayhem charges that could get her decades in prison.

Police said she offered no help in the search for the missing girl. Murder and kidnapping charges could get her life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

On Thursday, Las Vegas police responding to a 911 call found a girl's body in unkempt brush near palm trees in a small traffic circle about 10 miles from the downtown Las Vegas outlet mall where Stokes was to have taken the girl shopping.

On Friday evening, Jones called the slaying "unfathomable."

"Even having our jobs, we still can't wrap our heads around this," he said. "A lot of people think that just because of our positions we can understand it, but we can't."

In court Friday morning, Wilson stood flanked by eight police officers as her lawyer, Tony Liker, clutching a Bible and a copy of the charging documents, asked the judge to postpone arraignment until Wednesday to give him time to meet with Wilson.

Wilson, who had been identified by police and prosecutors as Brenda Stokes, told the judge Friday that her full name was Brenda Stokes Wilson.

Jade's father, Philip Morris, was removed from court Wednesday by armed court officers after shouting questions about his daughter's whereabouts to Wilson. He did not attend Friday's hearing.

The two dated for several years, and Jade had a long and trusting relationship with Wilson, according to the girl's grandfather, Philip Tucker.

Tucker said Philip Morris lived in Billings, Mont., and worked at a Flying J truck stop for more than a year. He would stay with Wilson when he visited Las Vegas, Tucker said.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the slaying. But Tucker said Wilson appeared to believe that the face-slashing victim had become romantically involved with Philip Morris.

Wilson picked up Jade up for their shopping expedition around 5 p.m. Later, she got a ride with a friend to the Bellagio. She allegedly attacked her co-worker, Joyce Rhone, at around 9:30 p.m.

Rhone, 44, was hospitalized with deep cuts on her face, including one from her ear to the edge of her mouth.

Wilson told investigators that she visited her doctor last week, seeking to be admitted to a hospital "due to feeling like she wanted to hurt someone."

Associated Press writers Hannah Dreier and Michelle Rindels contributed to this report.