Father pleads guilty in death of two men

Bill Gang

Thursday, June 10, 1999 | 11:45 a.m.

Wielding a 12-gauge shotgun from the back of a pickup truck, a Las Vegas father shot and killed two men he believed had fired shots at his house.

Gustavo Cumplido apparently was trying to protect his family from repeated vandalism and gunfire, but his actions ended up tearing his family apart.

Cumplido, 36, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of second-degree murder in a plea bargain that will send him to prison for 20 years before he will be eligible for parole.

His 14-year-old son already had admitted he fired shots during the Feb. 20 incident and pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon.

Despite his age, Matthew Cumplido faces the possibility of up to six years in prison for his role in the confrontation near Pecos and Bonanza roads that left 17-year-old Elroy Numez and Carlos Lopez dead.

Both were shot with a shotgun, but Matthew Cumplido only admitted firing a .25-caliber pistol.

Gustavo Cumplido admitted he fired the shotgun during the deadly encounter but said in court that he only was firing at a moving vehicle with people inside.

Three other family members in the truck on Feb. 20 had faced charges, but those charges were dropped because they did not fire weapons.

It was alleged the shooting incident was in retaliation for repeated vandalism, a car theft and drive-by shootings at the Cumplido family's home near Pecos Road and Stewart Avenue.

The family had filed several police reports about the incidents, but no arrests were made. The lack of success by police in quelling the problem was expected to have been a large part of the defense had the case gone to trial.

Testimony at a preliminary hearing earlier this year indicated that after an incident involving a shot fired outside the home, the five defendants piled into a pickup truck and pursued the vehicle from which the shot was believed to have originated.

Moments later, the fatal shots were fired as the trucks traveled side by side.