Brothers sentenced to prison in gang shooting at Las Vegas school
Two brothers were sentenced to prison on Thursday for injuring a middle school security guard in a gang-related shooting in the northeast Las Vegas Valley.
Defense attorneys for Adrian Rios, 21, and Jessie Rios, 19, emphasized the importance of rehabilitation for their clients, who faced significant prison time for a shooting on May 8, 2023, when a stray bullet struck a security guard at Von Tobel Middle School.
The brothers each pleaded guilty in May to attempted murder and illegally discharging a firearm.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Kenneth Portz said the shooting was the result of a gang rivalry between the Dolly Block gang, which Portz said the Rios brothers were members of, and the EBK gang.
Defense attorney Eric Ferran, who represented Jessie Rios, said that if the brothers avoided a harsh prison sentence, the court could prevent them from becoming more serious criminals in the future.
“If we want to create monsters — real monsters, judge — then we put these kids away for 10 to 25,” Ferran said.
But Portz argued that the shooting put multiple children at risk, including the juveniles the brothers were targeting and the crowd of middle schoolers who were outside when the bullet struck the victim in the hip.
‘They are proud of it’
The prosecutor said that when one brother was released on bail earlier in the case, the two were caught on recorded calls talking about planning robberies. Portz also said the two shared videos of the shooting.
“They are sharing videos with one another, filming it and sharing it, because they are proud of it,” Portz argued.
The brothers are accused of two shootings during the same day. Portz said the first occurred near Clifford Street and Judson Avenue, north of Lake Mead Boulevard and Pecos Road, when the brothers aimed at rival gang members and then pursued them in a car chase through a residential neighborhood. They then targeted rival gang members outside the middle school, he said.
Portz argued that violence between the two gangs has included a series of shootings throughout the valley since 2022, and that a 2023 homicide also was connected to the gangs.
“These defendants are prominent members of the gang. They are perpetuating the violence that I’m talking to you about, and they are catalyst for the violence that we’re discussing here today,” Portz said. “Based on that, we’re asking for the court to impose a sentence that will not only reflect the seriousness of the crime, but deter this criminal conduct where so many members of the community are the backdrop to this violence.”
District Judge Christy Craig agreed that prison time was appropriate for the brothers, and sentenced each of them to between seven and 18 years.
‘Price to be paid’
Craig said that while she was sympathetic to the brothers’ difficult childhoods — attorneys said they grew up surrounded by domestic violence — their behavior was “selfish and thoughtless,” regardless of their young age or “lack of maturity.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that sometimes, this is just about punishment,” Craig said. “Sometimes it’s just about the fact that you made poor choices and there’s a price to be paid for that.”
Both of the brothers apologized in statements to the judge before she ruled on their sentences. Jessie Rios said he took responsibility for what he did, and that he is “not a bad person.”
Adrian Rios paused throughout his statement, struggling to get words out while appearing to cry.
“I realize that this is not the lifestyle that I want for myself,” he said. “I’ve taken full responsibility for my actions.”
Adrian Rios’ attorney, Charles Goodwin, argued for his client to be placed on probation with the potential for house arrest.
“By sending him to prison at this age, we’re sending him into an environment where he is going to have to become a harder, tougher version of the person we saw on the day when this incident occurred,” Goodwin said.
The security guard who was shot, Wesley Todd Arrington, said he still suffers from the physical effects of his hip injury, and that he frequently wakes up with night terrors due to the shooting. Arrington, who said he grew up in the same neighborhood where the shooting happened, walked to the witness stand with a limp, and sat down as he addressed the judge.
“I’m just glad that it wasn’t a child that got hit,” Arrington said.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.