Texas authorities claim Nevada law enforcement failed to inform them when a woman accused of stabbing a man inside a Las Vegas-area hotel room in an apparent act of revenge relocated to Dallas.
Nika Nikoubin, 22, has been on house arrest in Texas since at least June 2022 after posting bond and being released from a Las Vegas jail, court records show. She has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and battery in connection with the March 5, 2022, stabbing at a casino-hotel southeast of Las Vegas.
Nikoubin told detectives at the time of her arrest that she stabbed a man she met on a dating app to avenge the death of an Iranian military leader who died in an American drone strike two years earlier, police have said. The man survived.
A judge in Henderson, on the outskirts of Las Vegas, imposed a curfew for Nikoubin and said she could leave home only for work, counseling, medical appointments and school if she was released from jail. Nikoubin moved to Dallas.
At a status hearing Monday in Clark County District Court, a police detective for the University of Texas at Dallas revealed that law enforcement agencies in Dallas were not made aware of Nikoubin's pending criminal case in Nevada, KLAS-TV reported.
“That has sparked immediate concerns for the safety of the campus along with the community,” the detective, Rod Bishop, said.
Judge Carli Kierny questioned whether Nikoubin, an aspiring music artist, has been properly monitored since she was released from jail in Las Vegas.
KLAS-TV reported that Nikoubin, while under house arrest, has left her home to record music videos and perform.
Bishop said that campus police learned Nikoubin was under house arrest in Dallas only when a reporter reached out for comment regarding the community's safety after Nikoubin booked “a singing event,” according to court records.
Nikoubin’s attorney, Alanna Bondy, asked the judge on Monday to release her client from house arrest, saying she has not violated any of the conditions of her release from jail. Bondy also said her performances are considered work, KLAS-TV reported.
Another custody hearing is scheduled Wednesday.
