Judge Attacked in Courtroom in Viral Video Said She Thought She Was Going to Die, as Suspect Pleads Guilty

Mar. 15, 2025

Judge Mary Kay Holthus.Photo:Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty

Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty

The judge who was the victim of a viral courtroom attack earlier in 2024 said she thought she was going to die while testifying in court this week at the suspect’s trial on an attempted murder charge — the only one of multiple charges to which he has not pleaded guilty.

Judge Mary Kay Holthus recounted the Jan. 3 attack in court Thursday, recalling how Deobra Redden suddenly ran towards her during a court appearance, jumped over the bench and attacked her during a court appearance after failing to appear for a previous hearing last year.

The video was widely shared across social media, showing Redden, 31, going airborne and throwing his entire body at the 62-year-old judge after he charged the bench.

Redden pleaded guilty but mentally ill to all but one of seven charges brought against him related to the courtroom attack, according to localKTNV. He pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder charge.

KLASreported that Redden could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

Holthus was reportedly choking back tears as she testified this week, recalling that she was frightened for her life in the moments after Redden’s “superhuman” jump over the four-foot judge’s bench.

The judge recalled: “I just remember saying, ‘Help! Help! Somebody get him off!’ In my head, I was just completely defenseless. It was scary. I didn’t think I was going to get out of there.”

Deobra Redden.Clark County District Court via AP

Clark County District Court via AP

Holthus’ law clerk Michael Lasso helped pull Redden off her along with a few others. Lasso can be seen immediately jumping up to defend the judge as Redden rushes towards the bench.“I literally rolled under my bench in the fetal position,” Holthus testified, according to KLAS. “I remember thinking, ‘Why is it taking so long?’ There was chaos in the courtroom.”

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Judge Mary Kay Holthus.Clark County District Court via AP

The judge told lawyers that she didn’t recall whether Redden had made threats or said if he was going to try and kill her.

“That’s going to be the big question that you guys are going to have to deal with at closing,” Redden’s attorney, Carl Arnold, told the jury. “Did he have the intent to go ahead and kill?”

source: people.com