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Man accepts plea deal in 2007 fatal shooting at Las Vegas park
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Gregory Spann
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A 26-year-old man facing a capital murder trial next week took a deal from prosecutors Thursday that could net him probation.
Las Vegas homicide detectives allege Gregory Spann, a felon, in October 2007 shot and killed 33-year-old Faustino Sigala after a dispute at Martin Luther King Park involving Spann's mother and younger brother.
But Spann's defense attorney, Robert Langford, said he was prepared to call three witnesses to testify at next week's trial that the shooter was Spann's friend Christian Johnson, the prosecution's key witness.
At a preliminary hearing in the case, Johnson identified Spann as the shooter.
Spann on Thursday entered an Alford plea to the charges of voluntary manslaughter with use of a deadly weapon and accessory to murder. The Alford plea means Spann didn't admit guilt but acknowledged prosecutors could prove their case against him.
Prosecutors agreed to drop two charges, including first-degree murder, and will only argue the facts and circumstances of the case and not ask for a specific punishment at his sentencing hearing, set for April 12 before District Judge Doug Herndon.
Spann faces probation or two to 25 years in prison. He already has served about four years in jail awaiting trial.
Langford said he had presented evidence that Johnson was the shooter to police but to no avail.
The lead homicide detective in the case, Dean O'Kelley, said Thursday, "We are not pursuing Christian Johnson as a suspect in the shooting."
Spann, convicted of assault and a gun charge in 2004, could have faced the death penalty if convicted on the murder count.
The shooting happened about 9:45 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2007, at Martin Luther King Park, near Carey Avenue and Nellis Boulevard.
Sigala was pushing his two children and another boy on the swings at the park, when the boy fell.
The boy's mother, Cheryl Ray of Las Vegas, was watching from inside her car, according to Spann's arrest report. She became irate with Sigala and began shouting at him.
Spann also is Ray's son. He was with a group of men in the park, according to court documents.
When he heard Ray shouting, he and the other men ran toward Sigala.
Homicide detectives say Spann then began shooting as Sigala fled. Sigala fell, and Spann fired several shots into him, according to investigators.
Sigala died in the arms of his older brother as his two children watched.
No one else was charged in the case.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@review journal.com or 702-380-1039.
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rjcjester is correct, Johnson was identified as the shooter...but Spann's previous criminal record (juvenile) made him an excellent scapegoat.
A Plea bargain for this??? If that wAS MY family member you killed, i would kill your entire family, then you.
I'm sorry, why was this guy offered a deal? To many plea bargins!
Max, Would it surprise you to hear that a nephew of the victim identified Christian Johnson as the shooter in a photo line-up? No, I don't think anybody accused the kid as being a gang member.
Apples & Oranges bghs. And as far as the witnesses go, Metro obviously thought there was a credibility problem. Probably the perp's family members or gang family. Spann agreed that the state could prove their case against him and he took a plea. I just don't understand the potential for the light sentence considering the perp's past criminal record.
Did everyone miss the part where three witnesses said Metro got the wrong guy? And that the main witness against this man is quite possibly the actual shooter? The DA's office doesn't go from pursuing death to essentially making no sentencing recommendation for no reason. Is no one else troubled that the DA's office may be squeezing a very serious plea from someone who might be completely innocent? There is clearly a lot that we are not being told about this case.
Maybe now with "hang 'em high" Roger off to greener pastures, this new DA will expend resources more wisely and not pursue death on every murder case. Even if you agree with the death penalty, the Supreme Court says it is reserved for the "worst of the worst" cases. The numbers don't lie. The Roger regime used the threat of the death penalty as a tool to force pleas, then cried to the press about how defense attorneys for death cases are bankrupting the county!
Who came up with the deal that allows this guy to start out facing the death penalty and now allows for the possibility of probation? That sounds criminal in itself.
@Max...Hey at least he isn't getting a six month paid vacation compliments of taxpayers. That's what the last two Metro cops got when shot men in the back while they were running away
It will never end!
For the Children who were left without a fanther and for the publics safety I sure hope that The Honorable Judge Doug Herndon sends this parasite away for many years .