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NewsJanuary 11, 2008

LAS VEGAS -- Two teenagers have been indicted on charges including attempted murder in a shooting at a school bus stop that wounded six people. Dresden Michael Williams, 18, and Franklin Jackson, 17, were indicted Wednesday and are scheduled for arraignment next week in Clark County District Court...

By KEN RITTER ~ The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS -- Two teenagers have been indicted on charges including attempted murder in a shooting at a school bus stop that wounded six people.

Dresden Michael Williams, 18, and Franklin Jackson, 17, were indicted Wednesday and are scheduled for arraignment next week in Clark County District Court.

No pleas have been entered, but Williams' attorney Kalani Hoo and Jackson's attorney Joel Mann said their clients intend to plead not guilty in the Dec. 11 shooting.

"My client maintains his innocence," Mann said Thursday. "We're looking forward to seeing all the evidence."

Williams and Jackson are each charged with conspiracy to commit murder, seven counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon and six counts of battery with a deadly weapon.

The teens could each face as many as 140 years in prison if convicted of all attempted murder charges.

They are accused of plotting with 18-year-old Nicco Tatum to ambush a teenager when he got off a school bus from Mojave High School in North Las Vegas. That teen, who authorities say had scuffled with Tatum a day earlier, was among the six people injured by handgun fire, police said.

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All the wounded have been released from the hospital.

Tatum, referred to in the indictment as an "uncharged confederate," is jailed on separate attempted murder and battery charges in the shooting, and in another case alleging that he shot a 40-year-old Las Vegas woman.

Williams' girlfriend, Erica Renee Adams, 20, faces a felony accessory charge alleging that she tried to shield Williams and Jackson from arrest after the shooting.

Adams, who also is to be arraigned next week, intends to plead not guilty, said her attorney, James Ruggeroli. He added that he may seek a separate trial for Adams from the other two suspects.

"It's so prejudicial for her to be joined in this. They're not similarly situated at all," Ruggeroli said.

Williams and Adams also are charged with conspiracy to violate the state controlled substance act and trafficking in a controlled substance.

Police said they found cocaine at an apartment where Williams and Adams were staying.

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