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Woman Killed, Dozens Of Others Hurt In Strip Crash

Police and emergency crews respond to the scene of a car incident along Las Vegas Boulevard on Sunday.
John Locher/AP

Police and emergency crews respond to the scene of a car incident along Las Vegas Boulevard on Sunday.

UPDATED: 2:08 p.m. 

Police have identified the woman accused in the deadly crash on the Las Vegas Strip and prosecutors say they expect to file murder charges and other counts against her.

The crash happened Sunday night in the northbound lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard between Planet Hollywood and Paris Las Vegas Hotel-Casino.

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Las Vegas Metro Police said the suspect crashed into pedestrians, killing an Arizona woman and injuring dozens of others.

Metro Police arrested 24-year-old Lakeisha Holloway of Portland, Oregon without incident after the crash.

Deputy Clark County Public Defender Scott Coffee says Holloway is under round-the-clock watch at the Clark County jail in Las Vegas. He said the fact that she is on suicide watch raises questions about her mental state.

During a news conference Monday morning, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told reporters they are still trying to figure why the crash happened. 

"The intentional act that occurred on the Boulevard is going to be very hard for us to explain at face value," Lombardo said. He said that though it's unlikely, he refused to rule out terrorism as a potential motive.

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Holloway was described as being stoic when taken into custody, and not distressed over what had taken place. According to police, Holloway's 3-year-old daughter was in the car with her. She was not hurt. The child is now Clark County custody. 

Police said Holloway had recently moved to Las Vegas and had been living in the car with her daughter. 

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Monday that the vehicle could be considered a deadly weapon.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said Monday that 32-year-old Jessica Valenzuela of Buckeye, Arizona, died in the crash. The coroner said the suburban Phoenix woman was visiting Las Vegas with her husband. A cause of death is pending, with an autopsy scheduled Monday.

More information is being released about the people hurt in the crash. A government official from Canada said five Canadians were hurt in the crash. The official said Canada is working with local authorities to provide support and assistance.

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University Medical Center in Las Vegas said it treated people from Montreal who needed a French translator.

Other victims include four college students from Oregon. Pacific University spokesman Joe Lang says the students are members of the wrestling team and were in Las Vegas to compete in a tournament. He says 19 athletes and coaches were walking together Sunday night when the woman swerved onto the sidewalk.

Lang says three of the four injured students were taken to a hospital. Two students were later released, and the other was kept overnight for observation.

They weren't the only wrestling team hurt in the crash. A suburban Philadelphia college says five wrestlers and their coach are among those hurt. 

Delaware Valley University in Doylestown says the group plans to return to campus Tuesday after receiving medical treatment. School officials say the team was walking to a movie Sunday night when the car drove onto a sidewalk.

The Las Vegas Strip reopened at around 6 a.m. Monday after being closed for nearly 12 hours. 

Sheriff Lombardo said the crash had no connection to next week's New Year's Eve plans. He said agencies are doing everything they can to make sure the celebration is another safe one.

He said he is confident they can protect the event and partygoers. 

(The Associated Press contributed to this story)

Lakeisha Holloway/Courtesy: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

Natalie is an Emmy-award winning journalist who has worked in the Las Vegas market since August 1996, starting as a newscast producer for KLAS-TV Channel 8, and later as an online editor for 8newsnow.com.