Teenager who shot sister accidentally is charged with murder

Ed Koch and Christina Littlefield

Monday, May 3, 2004 | 11:27 a.m.

A 15-year-old boy charged with murder will plead guilty to a lesser charge in Juvenile Court while another 15-year-old boy similarly charged has begun his trek through the adult court system with the potential for similar results, officials said.

District Attorney David Roger said today that Jake Reeder, who shot his friend reportedly while the two were playing a game last month, will be transferred from Henderson Justice Court to Juvenile Court today. On another date Reeder is expected to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, Roger said.

Meanwhile, Roger's office has charged Rocky Mendoza, also 15, of Las Vegas with murder as a result of a late March incident in which he accidentally shot his sister in the head while playing with a relative's gun. Mendoza was arrested Friday.

Mendoza and Reeder were charged under the same state law that makes an involuntary killing that occurs in connection with an unlawful act a murder.

Roger said the Reeder deal was reached after the district attorney's office met with attorneys from the public defender's office Friday.

Reeder is charged in the killing of 14-year-old Dustin Osborn on April 21. Reeder was in custody at the Clark County Detention Center and was to have had a bail hearing this morning in Henderson Justice Court.

Roger said Mendoza will be brought before Justice Court within the next two days.

He said deputy district attorneys then will meet with defense attorneys to determine what course that case would take. Roger declined to speculate as to whether Mendoza would get the same deal as Reeder.

Public Defender Phil Kohn, whose office is representing Reeder, said he feels both cases should go to Juvenile Court.

"This (Mendoza) is not a murder case," Kohn said today. "It should not be in the adult process. It should be in the juvenile process."

Kohn, who has testified before the Nevada Legislature against the law that automatically certifies minors as adults in murder cases, said he visited Mendoza at the Clark County Detention Center Sunday.

"I believe his mother will be interviewing today for private counsel," Kohn said.

Mendoza is charged with the March 29 fatal shooting of his sister, 14-year-old Erica Mendoza.