Jordan Ruby, 22, has been sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for the 2021 killing of 66-year-old Clarice Yamaguchi during a robbery near the Las Vegas Strip.
Ruby pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and attempted murder in July. His sentencing took place Thursday, Sept. 24, bringing a major step in the long-running case to a close. He also received credit for more than 1,000 days he had already spent in custody.
The case dates back to New Year’s Eve 2021, when Yamaguchi and her husband, Robert, were visiting Las Vegas from Hawaii. The couple had returned to their vehicle at the Fashion Show mall parking garage to retrieve a face mask when a silver BMW approached.
A man got out of the vehicle and attempted to take Yamaguchi’s purse. Her husband intervened and struggled with the attacker. During the confrontation, a gun was fired, striking Yamaguchi. She later died from her injuries.
At Ruby’s sentencing, Yamaguchi’s family described the lasting impact of her death. Her daughter, Cheryl Naomi Harimoto, told the court that her father had fought the attacker in an effort to protect his wife.
Robert Yamaguchi also spoke during the hearing and expressed his disappointment with the sentence, saying he had hoped for a death sentence.
Ruby apologized to the family and accepted responsibility for his role in the killing.
“I should have never been there, and now I have to live with that for the rest of my life,” Ruby said in court, according to local reporting.
The shooting was part of a wider series of robberies that unfolded around Las Vegas during the New Year’s Eve holiday.
After Yamaguchi was killed, investigators said Ruby and co-defendant Jesani Carter went to the Sahara Las Vegas, where an employee was targeted in an attempted robbery. A shot was fired at the employee as he fled, but he was not hit.
The pair later went to the Palace Station parking garage, where police said a woman was robbed at gunpoint. Shortly afterward, 60-year-old Hyo Sup “Richard” Um was shot in the same garage. His wallet was taken, and he later died at University Medical Center.
Authorities eventually connected Ruby and Carter to the robberies through evidence that included surveillance footage and other investigative findings. The suspects were arrested after their BMW crashed into a tree.
Prosecutors had previously said the two men came to Las Vegas during the busy New Year’s holiday with the intention of robbing people. The case initially carried the possibility of the death penalty, but guilty pleas changed the course of the prosecution.
Carter, 24, has also pleaded guilty to the killings of Yamaguchi and Um, along with multiple robbery-related charges. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 8.
The two guilty pleas mean the nearly five-year-old case is moving into its final sentencing stages rather than going to trial. Ruby will now serve at least 35 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole under the terms of his sentence.
