Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.
Trying to send a message of gun safety, District Attorney David Roger filed charges against three people in connection with the accidental shooting deaths of two teenagers last spring.
"These shootings were preventable," Roger said. "All (the gun owners) had to do is secure their firearms and these shootings would not have occurred."
Prosecutors allege Gil and Rolema Reeder left a handgun in their home for their 15-year-old son to use for protection when they weren't home.
The teen admitted to shooting and killing his friend, Dustin Osborn, who turned 15 on April 21, the day he died. The teens were "playing FBI" in the Reeders' Henderson apartment when the shooting occurred, police said.
In a separate case, prosecutors allege Francisco Cervantes-Perez, 21, brought home a newly purchased gun March 29 and left it within reach of another 15-year-old, who police said fatally shot his 14-year-old sister, Erica, while pretending they were actors.
The Reeders and Cervantes-Perez were charged with child neglect and endangerment with substantial bodily harm and reckless disregard of a person.
Roger filed the charges against the Reeders on Friday and Cervantes-Perez on Monday. They were summoned to appear in court Sept. 28.
Roger said he took his time in deciding whether to file the charges, meeting with Clark County Sheriff Bill Young, Henderson Police Chief Michael Mayberry and North Las Vegas Police Chief Mark Paresi to discuss the issue.
They determined that parents and gun owners are responsible for securing their guns, and that they should be held accountable if someone dies because of their failure to do so.
"The message I'm trying to get out is secure your firearms, period," Roger said. "The last thing I want to do is prosecute parents, but the protection of children is important."
According to police documents, Gil Reeder, 45, bought a .45-caliber handgun in early April after about 12 guns were stolen during a burglary of the family's apartment.
Reeder told Henderson Police he showed his 15-year-old son, another son and Dustin Osborn how to use the gun. He has kept guns in his home since his children were born, and both sons took hunter's education classes, the paperwork says.
Reeder "takes the new gun with him to work when his children are in school, but leaves the gun at home on a kitchen counter when his children are home," according to police documents.
He left the gun at home the day of the shooting because the 15-year-old had the day off from school. His friend, Dustin Osborn, a student at a different school, skipped classes that day to celebrate his birthday.
The 15-year-old told officers that his parents store the gun in the washing machine, and that his mother, Rolema, normally retrieves it, wakes him in the morning and says, "the gun's on the counter," the document says.
Later that morning the teen put Dustin against the wall while pretending to be an FBI agent and fatally shot him in the neck. The teen told police that he thought he had removed the bullets from the gun.
The Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun that Cervantes-Perez bought March 29 came with a gun lock, but he is accused of leaving it unlocked and unattended the day he bought it.
Cervantes-Perez lived in an apartment on North 22nd Street near Searles Avenue with his girlfriend's family. On the day of the shooting, he had taken the 15-year-old who ended up shooting his sister with him to a gun store when he purchased the handgun, his summons paperwork says.
When Cervantes-Perez and the teen got home, there were several children at the apartment. Sebastiana Mendoza, the children's mother, was at work.
Cervantes-Perez showed them the gun, then told them "it was time to put the handgun away," according to the documents.
Cervantes-Perez put the magazines into the handgun then either placed it on a table or on top of the refrigerator, he told police. Then he sat down and began to do paperwork relating to his job. He didn't notice anyone take the gun, police said.
The 15-year-old told investigators he came out of the bathroom and his sister Erica was pointing the gun at him, the paperwork says.
"Erica was joking around and wanted to play like they were in a soap opera," the summons says.
He grabbed the gun from his sister and pointed it at her "in a playful manner" and pulled the trigger, killing her, police said.
The Reeders and Cervantes-Perez were summoned to appear in court instead of being arrested because they are not considered to be flight risks, Roger said. They will be fingerprinted and photographed after their court appearances.
The two 15-year-olds both pleaded guilty in Juvenile Court to involuntary manslaughter in their respective cases.
The 15-year-old who shot his friend was sentenced to Spring Mountain Youth Camp where has to receive counseling and education before his release on probation.
The 15-year-old who shot his sister was placed on probation and was ordered to serve 200 hours of community service.
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