Kingman, AZ: Deadly Kingman hit-and-run preceded by violent conflicts

KINGMAN - The mother of a man run over and killed Monday said her son had had several confrontations with the man now charged with his death.

Michael Rivera, 47, was booked into the Mohave County Jail on first-degree murder charges for running over Nickolaus Gerenscer Monday in front of the home Gerenscer lived in with Rivera's stepdaughter in the 2100 block of Valentine Avenue.

Gerenscer is 23 contrary to previous reports by police that said he was 21.

Renee Ceniceros, the mother of Gerenscer, said she currently has custody of her son and his girlfriend's 1-year-old child. She said her son and Rivera have a history of confrontations in the past.

Police confirmed that they responded to Rivera's home in the 2200 block of Kingman Avenue on the morning of Oct. 12 in response to an argument between Rivera, Gerenscer and Ceniceros, which Ceniceros said stemmed from an argument over custody of the baby.

Kingman Police Capt. Rusty Cooper said police responded around 11:25 a.m. after Gerenscer reported that Rivera pulled out a knife and threatened him.

There was also a dispute between Rivera and Ceniceros.

Police said they did not press charges because of conflicting statements made by each party, lack of cooperation among the individuals and the fact that no independent witnesses were available.

Cooper added that police have had multiple contacts with Rivera and Gerenscer recently.

Both families have made allegations against the other, with Rivera's family saying that Gerenscer was abusive to his girlfriend and Gerenscer's family making the same allegations against Rivera. Police said they are still trying to sort out the different versions of what led to Rivera allegedly running over Gerenscer twice Monday morning following an argument between Gerenscer and his girlfriend.

Ceniceros said her son worked at Sonic Drive-In and loved playing videos games.

She said she wished police had done more during the previous confrontations between her son and Rivera.

"It should have never gone this far," she said. "Now my son is gone."