Window shooter's victim waits for justice

It will be nearly a year before shooting-spree victim Stephanie Carney has an opportunity to confront the 23-year-old ex-felon who took aim at her and her 13-year-old daughter with a BB gun two days before Valentine's Day.

Carney wasn't seriously hurt, but the trauma of the event has taken a toll.

Nearly every day is a struggle as she remembers the sound of the blast as her car window exploded around her, and the image of her eyes locking with David Scott Killen's seconds before he took aim.

In a recent interview, Carney was preparing herself to face Killen at his sentencing originally scheduled for Monday in District Court. But that date has been reset for Jan. 28 to allow Killen to earn more money for restitution.

On Sunday, Killen was arrested in Carson City on a new charge - tampering with mail - and was being held in jail on $50,000 bail.

"I don't have any faith he's going to stop terrorizing people," Carney said. "I'm not sure he thinks he's truly done anything that bad. I can't imagine he has that much of a conscience. When he was arrested (in Douglas), he stood there like nothing happened. I think we all need to be fearful."

On Feb. 12, Carney and her daughter Brianna were on their way to buy Valentines when Carney encountered Killen on the opposite side of a four-way stop on Dresslerville Road at Riverview shortly after school let out.

"I saw a small black car across the stop sign with two young men in it. Killen was driving and as we passed, there was just an explosion. I was covered from head-to-toe in glass, I was shaking and crying and I called 911.

"He so casually drove off. He didn't speed up. It was nothing to him," Carney said.

Carney made sure her daughter was unhurt and she got out of the van. Carney was covered in glass and bleeding from tiny shards that pierced her skin.

"I stood up and it just came off me when I got out of the car. My shoes were filled with glass," she said.

The case is being prosecuted by Carson City because Killen had been represented as a juvenile by Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson when Jackson was in private practice.

Firearms charges were dismissed because the weapon used - a BB gun or wrist rocket - doesn't constitute a firearm, according to Carson City District Attorney Neil Rombardo.

Carney said she's had a difficult time finding out what's happening with the case.

"It's the most frustrating thing to have to read everything in the paper," she said.

She said she's not sure what she hopes will happen when Killen eventually is sentenced. She knows about his criminal record and his prison stay.

Past crimes include setting a neighbor's lawn on fire when he was a juvenile and setting a series of fires in Douglas and Alpine counties and Carson City as an adult.

"I am trying not to let this bring me down for the rest of my life," she said. "I stay strong because I believe there is a purpose behind the whole thing. I do believe God or a greater power watched over me. I believe I was there for a reason however much it hurts me. What if there had been a driver with small children in the car instead of me? What if it had been his (Killen's) wife and baby?"

Carney got rid of her van and tries not to think too much about what happened when she passes the intersection where the shooting took place.

But there is still glass on the ground.

As recently as a few weeks ago she was attending a baby shower and a balloon popped.

"I had to go outside and compose myself," she said.