A Carson City man suspected of shooting another on Champion Drive in March pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor conspiracy to commit battery this week.
Gregory Allen Kelly, 23, was the only person charged in the March 22 shooting in which Jorge Meza-Guzman, 29, was shot twice. But after a preliminary hearing where the victim "refused" to identify Kelly as the shooter, and a woman who initially said she witnessed Kelly shoot the victim recanted her story, the case fell apart, said Assistant District Attorney Gerald Gardner.
The plea came Wednesday. A trial was set to start Monday on charges of attempted murder and battery.
According to court documents, Kelly, along with his father and a friend, allegedly went to Meza-Guzman's home to confront him for disrespecting their cousin by smoking meth with another woman.
A fight ensued, and after Meza-Guzman freed himself from an entanglement with Kelly's father, Kelly allegedly fired two shots, striking Meza-Guzman in the back and hip, a witness told investigators.
The trio then fled. Kelly surrendered to police a week later and denied shooting Meza-Guzman.
Gardner said Kelly faces up to a year in jail when sentenced in August.
He is currently serving a jail sentence for misdemeanor domestic battery charge.