Las Vegas Judge Commits Suicide After Facing Ethics Probe For Demanding An Investigation Into Alleged Sex Trafficking Ring
January 24, 2023

A former Las Vegas Judge committed suicide a year after she resigned from her position after facing an ethics investigation.

Per the Clark County coroner’s office, Judge Melanie Andress-Tobiasson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

According to Andress-Tobiasson, she resigned in an attempt to avoid a complicated ethics investigation that started when she attempted to rescue her daughter from being allegedly sex trafficked.

Andress-Tobiasson troubles began when her 16 year old daughter started to work at Top Knotch, a clothing store that Andress-Tobiasso believed was running a prostitution ring that would recruit teenage girls.

In an act she believed would protect her daughter, Andress-Tobiasso reached out to local law enforcement to warn them about the store owner at the time, but she claimed she received no action.

This led to to Abdress-Tobiasso to reach out to Federal investigators which resulted in the Nevada’s Judicial Discipline Commission to launch an investigation into Andress-Tobiasso for breaching judicial rules.

Andress-Tobiasson said she had to go to the FBI with the information after being ignored by local police — which resulted in officers investigating her for allegedly breaching judicial rules by making an allegation to federal agents.