Carson man charged in Sparks murder

A Carson City man was one of five people arrested by police on Wednesday in connection with a fatal October gang shooting in Sparks, Lt. Ken Lightfoot of the Sparks Police Department said.

Joseph Lee Stuart, 23, was taken into custody shortly after 5 p.m. following a short surveillance of his Ashby Court address. He is charged with suspicion of felony murder with the use of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit assault and battery with the use of a deadly weapon. He is being held in the Washoe County Jail on a $1.01 million bail.

Lightfoot said the shooting happened at 3 a.m. Oct. 6 in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 1000 block of El Rancho Drive in Sparks.

Octavio Martinez, 19, was shot to death during the confrontation.

"It was the result of a confrontation earlier in the evening in which there were no weapons used but some threats made back and forth which ended in a gun fight," Lightfoot said.

A five-month investigation was capped off Wednesday by grand jury indictments against seven people accused of involvement in Martinez's death.

Also arrested Wednesday in Sparks was Rogelio Romero-Guzman, 22, of Sparks; Louis Antonio Sambrano, 23, of Reno and Francisco Juan Hernandez, 24, of Sun Valley. They were also charged with suspicion of felony murder with the use of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit assault and battery with the use of a deadly weapon and are being held in lieu of $1,010,000 bail each.

Ian Scott Kilpatrick, 17, was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and is certified as an adult. His bail is $10,000.