Conviction returned in ‘96 killing

Kim Smith

Monday, July 3, 2000 | 10:13 a.m.

Three and a half years after a native Cuban was gunned down in the parking lot of a Las Vegas restaurant, the man accused of driving the getaway car has been convicted.

Geovanny Torres was convicted Friday of conspiracy to commit murder, murder with use of a deadly weapon and attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon.

District Judge John McGroarty will sentence Torres Aug. 16.

Torres and his brother, Carlos, who is also a Cuban native, were charged with murder in the Dec. 30, 1996, death of Alfonso Lazaro, 30.

Authorities believe the three had a dispute going back to the days when they were refugees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba.

Eduardo Rojas, whose testimony was translated into English through an interpreter, told jurors that on the night of the slaying he and Lazaro ran into the Torres brothers at two different bars.

Shortly after they got to the second bar, the Torres brothers got into an argument with Lazaro, Rojas said.

The brothers left, Rojas testified, but when he and Lazaro left the bar about 45 minutes later, Rojas said he saw Geovanny Torres behind the wheel of a white Cadillac and Carlos Torres in the front seat. Two other men were in the back seat.

Seconds later, Rojas said, he heard shots, and when he turned around, he saw Carlos Torres shooting at Lazaro over the top of the passenger door. When he yelled "Are you crazy?" Carlos Torres started shooting toward him, Rojas said.

The Torres brothers drove off, Rojas said. When he checked on Lazaro and found him dead, Rojas said, he went home and his wife tended to the gunshot wounds in his leg.

He didn't go to the police for seven days because he was scared, Rojas testified.

Deputy Special Public Defender Daren Richards, however, told jurors during his opening arguments that not only is there no physical evidence to tie Geovanny Torres to the scene, but Rojas was not to be believed.

Under cross-examination from Richards, Rojas admitted he has a felony drug conviction on his record. He also acknowledged that although he claims to have told police Geovanny Torres was driving the car that night, it's not on tape-recorded interviews with police.

Ironically, Carlos Torres remained a fugitive until Thursday. He was arrested in New Mexico for his alleged connection to Lazaro's death. He is expected to be brought back to Nevada to face trial.

Kim Smith covers courts for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2321 or by e-mail at kimberly@lasvegassun.com.(TM)