Las Vegas Family Urges Safe Rides This Cinco De Mayo and Derby Weekend

Denise Parish and her granddaughter Bailee Berger returned to the crash site for the first time to share a message about impaired driving.

As Las Vegas gears up for a busy weekend of Cinco De Mayo festivities and Kentucky Derby parties, a local family is urging drivers to choose a safe ride home. Denise Parish and her granddaughter Bailee Berger lost Al Weiss on April 28, 2024, when an impaired driver struck him near Buffalo Drive and Peacock Avenue. On Friday, the two returned to the site of the crash for the first time since it happened.

A Crash That Changed Everything

Juan DeLeon was traveling southbound at more than 100 miles per hour when he crossed the median and struck Weiss head-on, according to Berger. The impact demolished Weiss's vehicle and pushed it into a concrete barrier with enough force to break and displace it.

Parish, who had been with Weiss for 50 years since she was 19, described the depth of what she lost. 'Everything. Whenever I had anything wrong, all he would say is I'll handle it,' she said. 'And I knew it was done, whatever it was.' Berger echoed that grief, saying Weiss was her only father figure and had essentially raised her. 'He was his, and he was hers. They were inseparable,' Parish added.

DeLeon was sentenced to a minimum of six years and a maximum of twenty years for driving under the influence resulting in death.

Why Party Weekends Hit Differently in Las Vegas

Nevada permits 24-hour alcohol sales and service seven days a week, with no state-mandated closing times for bars, taverns, or retail stores. That policy, which makes Las Vegas one of the most permissive alcohol environments in the country, means the window for impaired driving extends well beyond last call.

For Parish and Berger, major celebration weekends have become a source of anxiety rather than festivity. 'No, no, no Super Bowl, New Year's, Cinco De Mayo. Anything where it's a party weekend,' Parish said. Berger added that unless absolutely necessary, the family avoids going out on those nights.

This weekend layers two high-profile events on top of each other: Cinco De Mayo and the Kentucky Derby, both of which draw large crowds to bars, restaurants, and watch parties across the valley.

The Message They Want Drivers to Hear

Parish kept her ask simple and direct. 'It's easier to order an Uber than it is another drink because you just have to pick up your phone,' she said. 'You can party, you can do all that, but stay safe. Because the life you save may not only be your own, but somebody's family.'

She closed with a line aimed squarely at anyone weighing the decision: 'A mother would rather pick you up than take you to the cemetery.'

What we know

• Al Weiss was struck and killed near Buffalo Drive and Peacock Avenue on the evening of April 28, 2024, by an impaired driver identified as Juan DeLeon.
• DeLeon was traveling over 100 miles per hour southbound when he crossed the median and hit Weiss head-on, according to Berger.
• DeLeon was sentenced to a minimum of six years and a maximum of twenty years for driving under the influence resulting in death.
• Nevada allows 24-hour alcohol sales and service seven days a week, with no state-mandated closing times for bars, taverns, or retail stores.
• Parish and Berger returned to the crash site on Friday for the first time since the incident occurred.

The take

Las Vegas occupies a unique position in the national conversation about impaired driving. Its round-the-clock alcohol service laws, combined with a tourism economy built around nightlife, create conditions that public safety advocates have long flagged as a persistent challenge. Unlike most American cities where last call provides a natural endpoint to a night of drinking, Las Vegas has no such structural brake. That reality makes the hours following major celebration events, Cinco De Mayo, New Year's Eve, Super Bowl Sunday, statistically more dangerous on local roads. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has consistently found that holiday weekends with strong drinking cultures see elevated DUI fatality rates nationwide, and Nevada's permissive environment amplifies that risk locally. Victim-advocacy voices like Parish and Berger carry a particular weight in this context because they speak from lived consequence rather than policy abstraction. Rideshare availability has genuinely lowered the barrier to choosing a safe ride, and public health messaging has increasingly leaned on that practical argument. The family's framing, that ordering a car is physically easier than ordering another drink, aligns with behavioral research suggesting that reducing friction in the safe choice is more effective than appeals to fear alone.

Why it matters

Las Vegas draws millions of visitors who may be unfamiliar with how its 24-hour alcohol culture interacts with local roads and traffic patterns. When high-profile party weekends stack on top of each other, as Cinco De Mayo and the Kentucky Derby do this weekend, the risk window widens for both residents and tourists. Stories like the Weiss family's put a human face on statistics that can otherwise feel abstract, and their public appeal ahead of a busy weekend serves as a timely reminder that impaired driving consequences extend far beyond the driver making the choice.

What’s next

Cinco De Mayo and Kentucky Derby watch parties are taking place across the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Parish and Berger are actively encouraging anyone celebrating to arrange a safe ride before drinking. The Kentucky Derby itself runs Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

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