2017 Reno homicides: 20 deaths, 19 cases, 6 arrests

Twenty people were killed by homicide in 2017 in the Biggest Little City.

The number of homicides in Reno last year was not unusually high, Reno Lt. Zack Thew said, noting the city typically sees between 15 and 20 homicides a year. Homicides include murder, accidental homicides and justifiable homicides.

In 2017, five of the cases were deemed justified and the homicide portion of the investigation was closed, Thew said. In seven other cases, eight suspects were arrested or have since died. No suspects have been booked in the seven remaining cases, which remain open and active.

Below, the Reno Gazette Journal compiled each 2017 homicide case chronologically to provide the latest case updates from the Reno Police Department. In many of the cases, people are the biggest assets to help solve and close more cases.

"The most important thing the public could do for us is, if you know something, say something," Thew said. "Also, be diligent and take care of yourself. Be aware of your surroundings. Be aware of the people around you.

"Call us if something's not right."

Anyone with information on these incidents is asked contact Reno Police detectives at 775-334-2188 or Secret Witness at 775-322-4900, www.secretwitness.com, or text the tip to 847411 (TIP 411) keyword – SW

These are the people Reno lost in 2017 by homicides. Here are their stories:

'He was our baby'

Cameron “Cee Jay” Lee was 18 when he moved away from home for the first time. He was 19 when he was shot and killed in Reno.

Lee wanted to work in the medical field and was attending the University of Nevada, Reno to become a nurse practitioner, his mother, Karen Bell, said over Facebook Messenger.

“He loved people and was always helpful and trusting in others,” Bell said. “He was a hard worker, loved to play football, singing, dancing, traveling and making you laugh. In (his) three months’ time in Reno, his teachers fell in love with (his) charming and amazing spirit. He was a good son and my best friend.”

In the early morning hours of Jan. 14, Reno officers were called to the Ramada Hotel on East Sixth Street after a shooting. They found Lee with a single gunshot wound to his chest. He later died at a local hospital.

"Cameron is the youngest of six siblings and he was our baby," Bell said. "We love him and miss him daily."

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Later that day, police arrested 23-year-old Deandre Richie on charges of buying, possessing or receiving stolen property, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and involuntary manslaughter with a deadly weapon.

Detectives determined Richie was impaired while handling the gun that discharged. According to the police investigation, there was no altercation or malicious intent by Richie to shoot Lee, and the incident was an accidental homicide.

Richie pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial is expected to start on Feb. 26.

Two homicides, two jurisdictions

Two teenagers were shot and killed on Jan. 21 in Reno and Sparks.

Reno police responded to McCarran Boulevard and Sutro Street to find Edgar Rodriguez. Sparks police responded to the 2600 block of Cygnet Circle in Sparks to find Saul Garcia. Both 19-year-olds were shot dead.

Rodriguez had recently left a nearby party with several other people when the shooting happened, Reno Sgt. KC Myers said in an interview with the Reno Gazette Journal. Police found Rodriguez dead, shot in the head inside a vehicle with several bullet holes in it.

The Sparks victim, Garcia, was found shot in the head in the back of a vehicle, his mother Abby Torres told the RGJ.

Reno and Sparks police say the cases may be related. They are investigating three vehicles possibly related to the homicides.

A maroon or orange sedan with color-shifting paint and a blue or gray sedan were last seen at a 7-Eleven at Sutro Street and Oddie Boulevard the night of the shootings. The third vehicle is a truck with possible damage to the passenger side.

Reno police Sgt. KC Myers said in December that it was possible the "unidentified suspects would have abruptly sold or separated themselves from these vehicles as they were used in the commission of two murders.

"It is also possible that they would have had indications of being either freshly repaired or painted during the end of January or February of 2017."

RELATED: Remembering Saul: Killed in January double homicide

Family or friends of Rodriguez could not be contacted for comment.

No suspects are in custody at the time of publication. The case is actively being investigated as a homicide.

Two found dead

Two people were found dead in a white sedan in southeast Reno where Rio Wrangler Parkway turns into Mira Loma Drive in what police determined to be a murder-suicide.

On Feb. 9, Alex Muratalla-Magollon, 24, shot Rachel Tams, 45, before shooting himself, Reno detectives said. Evidence determined Muratalla and Tams had discussed committing suicide together and there are no indications that Tams was an unwilling participant in this incident.

Muratalla-Magollon's and Tams' family or friends could not be reached for comment.

'I just want answers'

Terry Ball's graduation day sticks out the most in his mother's mind.

Shanee Ball still remembers the look on her son's face — excited, proud, bright, fun.

ORIGINALLY REPORTED: Police: 17-year-old killed in shooting near Stead

"We were so excited for him because he wanted to go to college next," she said, holding a photo of her son. "But, we didn't get to that point yet of where he wanted to go."

On Valentine's Day, 17-year-old Terry Ball was shot and killed after a fight involving "approximately (seven) people" at the Sierra Shadows Trailer Park over social media posts, Thew said.

Shanee Ball said the doctors told her he was shot three times and bled to death.

"I went home after the doctors told me, and I just collapsed," she said. "It took some time for it to become real for me. I went into his room and looked around and got in his bed. I waited until 9 the next morning for him to come home. I kept calling his phone. I actually got up to go look for him."

Ball said she had to pull herself together for her two daughters, but it was a dark time for the family "for quite some time."

While no arrests have been made in the case, Thew said that "the shooter has been identified and investigators are assessing criminal culpability," meaning the department is working with the district attorney's office "to determine what — if any — criminal violations occurred."

Ball said she hopes to see an arrest soon.

"At this point, I just want answers," Ball said. "Every day, it's so hard getting up and living life. I feel like half of me is gone. He was my best friend, my rock, my firstborn. And now, he's gone."

Random encounter

On Feb. 24, 40-year-old Mark McMahon was shot and killed on the 400 block of Smithridge Drive in what police described as "a random encounter."

According to investigators, McMahon's 2007 Ford Mustang was parked in the northbound travel lane of Smithridge Drive, blocking a portion of Filbert Road. This led to an interaction between McMahon and the people in the suspect's vehicle.

MORE: Victim ID'd in south Reno shooting death

"It was very simply that his car was blocking the road," Thew said. "It appeared to be a random encounter. The car was in the roadway and ultimately, the two groups became involved in an altercation."

Police previously reported that the occupants in the suspect vehicle fired at least one rifle and one handgun at McMahon and his passengers.

The suspect has since been identified as 25-year-old Rafael Navarro-Garcia, who died in an officer-involved shooting on March 2, 2017.

A drug deal gone wrong

Corey Saunders was shot and killed after what police described as a drug deal gone wrong in a south Reno parking lot. The 19-year-old has since been found to be at fault for the shooting and the homicide was deemed justified.

Saunders allegedly conspired with three other people — Anthony Espinoza, Tony Taylor and Paul Xerxes — to commit an armed robbery, Thew said.

At around 8:40 p.m. on April 26, officers responded to the 800 block of Redfield Parkway across from the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to find Saunders dead from with several gunshot wounds.

Another man -- later determined to have been shot by Saunders -- was found at a nearby parking lot with one gunshot wound.

The unidentified man had met the suspects to sell them "a significant amount of marijuana," police said. When the man arrived, he was allegedly ambushed by Saunders, Espinoza, Taylor and Xerxes and shot in an apparent robbery, police said.

Espinoza and Taylor have since been arrested for attempted armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and battery with the use of a deadly weapon. Thew said a warrant was issued for Xerxes for the same crimes.

Family or friends could not be reached for comment.

Broad daylight

On May 4, 24-year-old Hugo Lozano-Back Jr. was shot and killed in an intersection in broad daylight.

Lozano-Back was walking in the intersection of Wrondel Way and Hubbard Way when he was approached by a vehicle, Thew said.

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"The suspects in the vehicle then shot and killed him," he said.

Thew said detectives don't believe the incident was a random crime and added, "Detectives believe he may have been familiar with the suspects."

Family or friends could not be reached for comment.

Detectives are actively investigating this case, and no suspects are in custody at the time of publication.

'He'd drop his life for you'

Eric Cooper was shot in the head on his 48th birthday in what investigators have since found to be justified homicide, with Cooper at fault for the crime.

On June 15, Reno police arrived at the 800 block of East Taylor Street around 8:20 p.m. to find Cooper dead.

Cooper allegedly approached "the victim at the victim's home where the confrontation took place," Thew said.

"(Cooper) was harassing and extorting the victim in the case which resulted in a confrontation during which he was shot and killed," Thew said.

Even though Cooper was found to be the criminal in this case, friends of his said that he was a good man who made a mistake.

Zach Davis, who met Cooper through the Hells Angels' Nevada chapter, said: "There is a saying that we have: 'We can do a million things right and no one will remember. We do one thing wrong and no one will forget.'

"There is not a single person on this planet that has gone without making a mistake or two, Eric's just happened to be fatal," Davis said. "He was a good man with a great heart, and anyone that knew him would agree."

Friends said the Harley-loving man would put his life on hold to help the people he knew – whether it was to change a tire in the middle of the night or to spend a weekend helping someone move.

“He’d drop his life for you,” Cooper’s friend of 20 years, Mike Bouza, said. “He was a stand-up kind of guy.”

'You don't see people like Ryan'

Ryan Jones, a former NFL player and Hug High School alum, was shot and killed during a confrontation on June 18. The Reno Police Department has since found the homicide to be justified.

Officers were called to the 200 block of Talus Way, north of Rancho San Rafael Park, where they found three men who’d been shot. Jones, 26, died at the scene. The two others were injured but survived.

While the full details of the investigation have yet to be released, Thew did say that Jones went to the “address to confront somebody regarding a dispute that the person had with somebody else.”

“(Jones) responded with a firearm, and it was during that confrontation where he was ultimately shot and killed.”

Jones' trainer and friend Matt Tonkin said that despite the homicide being ruled justified, Ryan was a “shining light to those around him.”

“You don’t see people like Ryan,” Tonkin said. “Ryan wasn’t a thug. He wasn’t a bad guy. If there’s one thing that I can get across is that he was one of the best people I have ever met. I loved him. He was my brother.”

After severely injuring his ankle while signed with the New York Giants, Jones's football career ended but a new passion emerged: mixed martial arts. He started training in the sport when he met Tonkin, who described Jones as “one of the most driven people” who was a welcome presence at the gym.

“I’d be here after practice sweeping the mats by myself, and I’ll start talking to Ryan and tell him how much I miss him and how much I hope he found his peace,” Tonkin said. “The world lost one of the good ones and we can’t afford to do that because we need more good people in the world like him.”

Before his death, Jones was about to start working with at-risk foster kids, begin a new job and was awaiting results to find out if he would one day become a police officer.

Jones had become “part of the family” and was a role model to Tonkin’s son. Tonkin said that his son, Christian, still misses Jones and dedicated his senior year of football to the man who had become like his older brother.

“He totally transformed Christian,” Tonkin said. “They were training together, but then they became friends. Ryan could reach him on a level I couldn’t. They talked about school and girls and the things I couldn’t. It wasn’t just about plays and football, it was about life. It was about friendship.”

A robbery gone wrong

Jordan Buggs and Byron Cisneros were both 21 when they were shot and killed in what police later determined to be a justifiable homicide. According to police, the men were attempting to rob two others at gunpoint before being killed on June 19.

According to the department’s investigation, Cisneros and Buggs arranged to meet with two people – described by police as victims – for a “personal transaction.” Police said Cisneros was armed when he met with the victims.

Police said Cisneros sent a text message to Buggs saying the doors to the victim's vehicle were unlocked.

According to a news release, Buggs got out of their car “armed with a firearm and a bandana covering his face.”

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Buggs “approached the victim’s vehicle and pointed the firearm at the victim sitting in the driver seat,” the release said. “Cisneros also produced a firearm and pointed the firearm at the victim sitting in the driver seat while demanding property.”

Police said the passenger grabbed Cisneros’ gun and got into a struggle and then the driver took out another firearm and began firing at Buggs and Cisneros.

One of the victims called police and stayed on scene.

A witness who was with Cisneros and Buggs before the robbery told police that the two had informed the witness that “they were going to commit a robbery of a subject and left armed with firearms.”

The Reno Police Department does not anticipate charges to be filed.

Attempts at contacting the families were unsuccessful at the time of publication.

Body in a box

For 326 miles, Jose Rodriguez drove his four children and his fiance’s dead body from Reno to Dinuba, Calif.

Dinuba police Lt. Abel Iriarte told the Reno Gazette Journal that Rodriguez allegedly killed 29-year-old Lorena Gardner in Reno on July 8, packed the mother of his two youngest children in a cardboard box and started driving. The children were unknowingly in the car with her body.

Rodriguez was “intimidating everybody” at a family member’s house, Iriarte said. Then, he said, police started receiving tips that led investigators to Gardner’s body. Police said she had a visible blunt force trauma to her head.

Later, detectives found a “hole that was dug by (Rodriguez)” at a family member’s home.

“We can only assume what that was for,” Iriarte said.

Rodriguez has since been charged with open murder by the Reno Police Department and is awaiting extradition back to Nevada.

Body in the Truckee

About 7:20 a.m. on July 9, Reno officers responded to the area of 250 Evans Avenue on the report of an unresponsive person by the river.

The person was identified as 65-year-old Sheron Lockart.

Lockart had visible injuries, Thew said, but "the cause of death was not readily apparent." The Washoe County Medical Examiner's Office performed an autopsy on Lockart but the manner of death is pending further testing results.

"Detectives with the Robbery Homicide Unit immediately began investigating the circumstances and were able to contact subjects last known to be with Lockart," Thew said.

Lockart's case is being investigated as an active homicide. No suspects have been arrested.

Circumstances unclear

No suspects are in custody after 21-year-old Trezelle Holloway was shot dead near Teglia's Paradise Park on Aug. 4.

"The circumstances leading up to the shooting are still unclear and no one is in custody at this time," the department announced after the shooting.

The case is being investigated by the Robbery Homicide Unit and Regional Gang Unit. No further details were available at the time of publication. Family or friends could not be reached for comment.

The dispute

The person who allegedly shot Jeff Ritter was arrested within a week of his death.

Daniel Fuentez, 58, faces a murder charge in the shooting death of Ritter, who was found dead inside of a south Reno apartment on Aug. 15.

According to Thew, detectives found that Ritter, Fuentez and a “mutual female friend” were in a dispute before the shooting at an apartment complex in the 900 block of Nutmeg Place.

Fuentez pleaded not guilty to the charges. The trial is scheduled to start on July 30.

'My brain just relives it'

Irene Reyes was working the night shift at Renown Regional Medical Center the night her son was rushed into the same emergency room.

As a nurse – and a worried mom – Reyes would often check the track board to see the incoming emergencies. Every time a person would come in with gunshot wounds and a description similar to her 20-year-old son, she would run to the bathroom and text him. He would always reply.

It was an exceptionally busy night at the hospital on Aug. 23, she remembered. She didn’t have time to stop and look at the board, otherwise, she said, she may have noticed her son’s description. Maybe she would have texted him. Maybe she would have known sooner her son was in the emergency room with four gunshot wounds in his chest and two in his back.

“My brain just relives it – I don’t know if it’s the nurse in me – but I process every single moment of what he went through,” she said. “He probably suffocated on his own blood. He lost consciousness. He bled to death. What was he thinking? That’s just something I can’t get out of my head.”

Often, she thinks back to what she was doing at 12:44 a.m., trying to remember if she felt the moment her son died a few floors away from her.

Anthony Herrera, Reyes’ son, has been since found at fault for the incident that led to his death, according to the Reno Police Department’s investigation, and the homicide is considered justified.

Reyes said she “mostly understands” the way Anthony died – the person who shot him was acting in self-defense – but what she said she’ll “have to find a way to live with” is “never understanding overkill.”

“The moment the person who took my son’s life stood over him and kept shooting at him while my son was on the ground, my son was no longer a threat,” she said. “At that moment, that man had a choice to leave, but he didn’t.”

According to the investigation, Herrera was seen on Lake Street for “several hours leading up to the shooting.” A witness said Herrera was armed with a handgun.

At around midnight, an SUV stopped in the area to drop off a passenger when Herrera allegedly approached the vehicle and opened the driver’s door “in an attempt to commit an armed robbery.”

A fight broke out between the driver, passenger and Herrera. The male driver took the gun from Herrera and shot him.

Herrera had known gang affiliations – which Reyes was aware of – but she said that wasn’t the only “label” he had. She described him as a son, a brother, a jokester, a protector, a music maker and “the most hardcore Raiders fan you’ll ever meet.”

“He loved his family, and he was very loved,” she said. “He would do anything to make you happy. He would take off his shirt to give it to you if that’s all he had.”

In the four months since Herrera's death, Reyes said she has spent a lot of time still learning about her son – especially through his music. She said it was through his music that she “understands how much pain there was and how trapped he felt into that lifestyle.”

“As a parent, we say things to our kids because we love them and want the best for them,” she said. “We have hopes and dreams for them. We hope that they are able to live a good life. This path – and I told Anthony so many times – that path has three ways out: prison for the rest of your life, you’re six feet under or you need to make a drastic change.

“He was making that change, he was trying to make that change for himself. I wish it would be different to where he was alive and he could do it for himself.”

'He would always show up'

Monae Smith wishes she could turn back time and tell her brother, Vidal Smith, to stay at her home that night.

Vidal Smith had just picked up dinner from the Rib Cook-off when he headed over to his sister's home. He wanted to see his 2-year-old niece, Naliana, who he cared for as if she were his daughter, Monae said.

After putting Naliana to bed, they watched TV – and what sticks out in Monae’s mind the most – they were laughing so hard.

“That’s the thing that plays in my head – his laugh,” Monae said four months after her brother’s death. “He just had this goofy laugh.”

Monae went to bed, and when she woke up, she had over 20 missed calls on her phone. She knew then that life would never be the same.

“I called my dad back, and he’s saying that he’s down at the police station. He was saying something about he was shot. He told me he didn’t make it – that it was instant,” Monae said recounting the moment she found out her brother was shot and killed.

“I just remember I started crying on the floor. My daughter woke up and ran over to me and started screaming, ‘It’s OK! It’s OK!’ It wasn’t OK, but I had to pull it together for her.”

Vidal Smith, 26, left her home that night to go to Our Bar in downtown Reno.

“There was an altercation that started in the bar,” Thew said. “They took the fight outside the bar. That’s when he was shot and killed.”

Thew said Smith was shot one time in the head on Aug 31. He died instantly on scene.

“My parents and I - when we talk about it – they keep asking when that empty feeling will go away, and I just don’t know,” Monae said. “I keep expecting him to walk in the door and show up. He would always show up. He was there for every birthday, every family gathering, literally everything.”

Monae said she and her family “finally stopped looking over their shoulders” when police took the suspect into custody. But, Monae said, nothing will bring her brother back.

Sevier “Dontay” Robinson, 28, was taken into custody on one count of open murder. A trial date has not yet been set.

No arrests made

A 16-year-old was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant in the early morning hours of Oct. 14.

At around 1:57 a.m., Reno officers responded on the report of a shooting to the parking of La Fonda Mexican Restaurant and Sushi Bar in the 4000 block of Neil Road.

Officers found the victim with gunshot injuries in the parking lot. He was transported to a local hospital where he died.

Detectives have since been actively investigating the case. No arrests have been made.

Domestic issues

Luz Linares, 26, was found shot to death in her idling car at the intersection of Parkview Street and Mazzone Avenue on Nov. 2.

Two people, 26-year-old Richard Silva-Guzman and 18-year-old Yiovannie Guzman, were arrested for open murder.

Thew said the motive behind the murder was "domestic issues involving the three of them."

Home invasion turned homicide

Christian Gonzalez was shot once when an unknown suspect invaded his apartment on Selmi Drive in north Reno on Nov. 28, Thew said.

PREVIOUSLY REPORTED: Reno police ID man fatally shot at Selmi Drive apartment

Gonzalez, 24, had moved to Reno from California, authorities said. Attempts at contacting family and friends were unsuccessful.

"At this time, we don't believe that it was a random crime," Thew said. "However, it's still being actively investigated."

No arrests have been made.

A reminder

Anyone with information on these incidents is asked contact Reno Police Detectives at 775-334-2188 or Secret Witness at 775-322-4900, www.secretwitness.com, or text the tip to 847411 (TIP 411) keyword – SW

Sarah Litz is the crime reporter for the Reno Gazette Journal. If there are family or friends of the victims who would like to get in contact with her, please send an email to slitz@rgj.com.