Man sentenced to decades in prison for attacking Las Vegas judge: 'I'm not an evil person'

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) - A judge sentenced the man who attacked another Las Vegas judge earlier this year to at least 26 years in prison, saying the incident was an attack on the entire judiciary.

On Jan. 3, Deobra Redden, 31, attacked Las Vegas District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus as Holthus was sentencing him to prison in another case.

During his trial for attempted murder in September, Redden pleaded guilty but mentally ill after Holthus and her law clerk testified. Redden’s scheduled sentencing two weeks ago was rescheduled because he was not transported from prison to the court.

On Tuesday, prosecutors asked District Court Judge Susan Johnson for substantial prison time while Redden’s attorneys suggested he serve a concurrent prison sentence to the one he was already serving under Holthus. Redden's attorney, Carl Arnold, said the time amounted to four to 11 years.

Redden was serving prison time on the attempted battery charge, which Holthus sentenced him to as the initial hearing continued on Jan. 8.

Johnson declined to sentence Redden concurrently as his attorney asked. Instead, she sentenced him to an aggregate prison term of 26-65 years.

"It was not just retaliation or an attack on Judge Holthus," Johnson said, "It was also an attack on the judiciary." Johnson added that doctors who evaluated Redden concluded he knew the difference between "right and wrong."

Redden was in Holthus’ courtroom on Jan. 3 for sentencing on a charge of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm. Holthus, who was 62 at the time, was sitting behind the bench, which she described as 4 feet high, when Redden ran up to her, jumped over the desk and attacked her, video showed. Several other people, including Holthus’ courtroom marshal and her law clerk, then fought with Redden before throwing him to the ground.

"I'm not a bad person, I'm not an evil guy," Redden told Johnson before she sentenced him. "I'm not making excuses for my actions, but I'm saying I'm not a bad person, and I know that I did not intend to kill Mary Kay Holthus, I know I cared about her wellbeing."

Holthus did not speak during the sentencing. Instead, prosecutors read a statement from her.

"He made a conscious decision to kill me and made every effort to succeed," the statement said, "If he had his way, he'd be facing a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for murder."

Redden appeared in front of Holthus several times before January’s attack. He was previously in front of Holthus on charges of malicious destruction of property.

Redden pleaded guilty to another charge of attempted battery with substantial bodily harm in November 2023. Holthus later issued a bench warrant for his arrest in December after he missed a court appearance. That hearing, his sentencing, continued on Jan. 3.

Redden spoke during the sentencing, saying in part, he was not "an evil person."

"I saw nothing but red," Redden said, adding he did not remember anything else from that day.

With credit for time served, Redden would be eligible for parole in the 2050s.