A jury should decide whether a woman intentionally drove over her partner’s head and killed him in the parking lot of a North Las Vegas Olive Garden, a judge ruled Tuesday.

During an hours-long hearing, authorities told Justice of the Peace Kalani Hoo that Bryan Hicks, 40, died of traumatic asphyxia after 40-year-old Andrea Roman pointed the wheels of her vehicle at him and accelerated.

Greg Hess, a medical examiner with the Clark County coroner’s office, testified that Hicks’ head was pinned under the tire of the vehicle, preventing him from getting enough oxygen.

The couple, who had been dating for about 20 years and had eight children together, had been arguing outside the restaurant moments before the crash.

Authorities said that the couple’s youngest child, who was 4 years old, was inside the car at the time of the killing. In Roman’s arrest report, witnesses said that Roman apparently tried to leave the scene before a bystander drew a concealed firearm and commanded her to get on the ground.

Prosecutors played footage of the incident during Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, where a judge decides whether prosecutors have enough evidence to present the charges to a jury.

Roman, who wore a blue jumpsuit and had her hair in a ponytail, wailed loudly, her body rocking over the table where she sat with her lawyer.

On multiple occasions throughout the hearing, Roman appeared to use her finger to plug her ears.

Roman’s attorney, David Lopez-Negrete, argued that the crash was unintentional. He said that Roman thought she had put the Mitsubishi Outlander, which she had owned for less than a day, in reverse before she struck Hicks.

He said the vehicle did not have a traditional gearshift. When officers arrived at the scene, they tried to pull Hicks from under the vehicle, but they also could not change the gears, Negrete said.

“Look at the fact that Ms. Roman had just purchased this vehicle, had been using this car for basically the better part of the morning, and there was no testimony that she had been backing up and going forward,” Lopez-Negrete said. “I think if you add it all up, you see that there is a very viable argument that this was an accidental strike.”

District Attorney Kassandra Acosta disagreed. She said that, looking at the dash-cam footage provided by a bystander, Roman “inched forward” three times, turned her wheel toward Hicks, and then accelerated.

The prosecutor also noted that earlier that morning, Roman and Hicks stopped at a pawn shop, where she would have had to use reverse while parking.

Acosta added: “She knows the difference between reverse and drive. She clearly knew that when she inched forward three times, she turned the wheel towards him.”

Hoo said that he found slight or marginal evidence to support the murder charge. Roman is due back in court on Thursday.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.

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