Parents strike deal in son’s shooting of friend

Friday, Dec. 17, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

Prosecutors struck a plea bargain with the parents who had left a gun out at their home. Their 15-year-old son killed his friend with the gun.

The parents pleaded no contest to reduced charges and will pay a fine and perform community service.

Gil and Rolema Reeder were each originally charged with child neglect and endangerment with substantial bodily harm and reckless disregard of a person two felonies that carry a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Under an agreement reached with Chief Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon, however, they pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor.

The Reeder's teenage son 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.

The Reeders said they left a handgun in their home for their son to use for protection when they weren't home, according to court documents.

Gil Reeder, 45, had purchased the .45-caliber handgun in early April after about 12 guns were stolen during a burglary of the family's apartment, according police documents.

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 the police report.

He left the gun at home the day of the shooting because his son had the day off from school. His son's friend, Dustin Osborn, a student at a different school, skipped classes that day to celebrate his birthday.

The Reeders' son 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 Osborn against the wall and shot him in the neck.

The boy told police he had been pretending to be an FBI agent and thought he had removed all of the bullets from the gun.

The same plea bargain that the Reeders got is expected to be offered in a separate but similar case, officials said.

Prosecutors allege Francisco Cervantes-Perez, 21, brought home a newly purchased gun March 29 and left it within reach of a 15-year-old boy who police said fatally shot his 14-year-old sister, Erica, while pretending they were actors.

Cervantes-Perez is currently charged with child neglect and endangerment with substantial bodily harm and reckless disregard of a person.

The Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun that Cervantes-Perez purchased had come 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. He said he 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 told police he didn't notice anyone.

The boy grabbed the gun from his sister and pointed it at her "in a playful manner" and pulled the trigger, killing her, police said.

The two 15-year-olds both pleaded guilty in Juvenile Court to involuntary manslaughter in their respective cases.

The Reeders' son was sentenced to Spring Mountain Youth Camp where he has to receive counseling and education before he can be released on probation.

In the Cervantes-Perez case, that 15-year-old boy was placed on probation and was ordered to serve 200 hours of community service.