Six defendants in Carson City man’s murder enter not guilty pleas

The six defendants in the murder of an 18-year-old Carson City man entered not guilty pleas in court Tuesday.

Reed Skenandore, 21; Jesus Garcia-Manriquez, 18; Allen Garcia-Manriquez, 19; Jonathan Skenandore, 18; Daniel Lease, 20; and Jacob Huttman, 19 are all charged in connection with the Jan. 11 murder of Grant Watkins.

Watkins was killed after being shot in the abdomen in an early morning drug deal-turned-robbery, detectives said. Detectives believe Watkins was meeting with Reed Skenandore, Jesus Garcia-Manriquez, Keenan Blackmore, Jonathan Skenandore and Huttman around 12:30 a.m. at Blackwell’s Pond Park to sell the men three ounces of marijuana when Reed Skenandore allegedly shot Watkins. It was alleged in court during the preliminary hearing earlier this month that Allen Garcia-Manriquez helped drive his brother to the scene and Daniel Lease helped Reed Skenandore dispose of the firearms and clothing used that night.

Reed Skenandore, Jesus Garcia-Manriquez and Jacob Huttman are charged with felony murder with a deadly weapon, felony robbery with a deadly weapon, felony assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder and destruction of evidence. Jonathan Skenandore was originally just charged with conspiracy and accessory charges related to the incident, but after the testimonies given, the District Attorney amended the charges after the preliminary hearing to felony murder with a deadly weapon, felony robbery with a deadly weapon, felony assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder and destruction of evidence as well. Allen Garcia-Manriquez is charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, accessory to murder and accessory to robbery and Daniel Lease was charged with accessory to murder and accessory to robbery.

They all entered not guilty pleas on all counts Tuesday. The court set the trial for 20 days, from Sept. 7 to Oct. 12.

Due to the number of defendants and the fact just the preliminary hearing took five days to complete, the attorneys felt the trial would be a minimum of three to four weeks total. However, not all may be going to trial as it was implied the District Attorney’s Office may try to strike plea deals with some of the defendants.

Two others also were arrested in connection with the murder: Keenan Blackmore, who was at the scene and testified against the defendants in the preliminary hearing and a 17-year-old juvenile who was also at the scene.