Shooting survivor, girl had violent history

The surviving victim of a shooting and the girl at the center of the dispute had a violent history, court records indicate.

Fidel Fuentes, 22, was released from Washoe Medical Center on Thursday where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the leg. He was shot during a midnight altercation Tuesday in West Carson City in which bystander Juan Carlos Alegria, 23, was killed.

Police say Fuentes, who was driven to 314 W. Eighth St. by Alegria, spotted Maximiliano "Dagger" Cisneros inside the apartment of his estranged girlfriend, Katie Armstrong, 24. After Fuentes began banging on the door and windows Armstrong told Cisneros, 22, to jump out a back window when Fuentes allegedly kicked in Armstrong's ground-floor apartment door, according to court records.

An affidavit in support of a murder warrant against Cisneros, 22, states Armstrong ran from the apartment when Fuentes entered. Fuentes said Cisneros allegedly emerged from a back room with a gun and chased him out the door.

Both Fuentes and Armstrong said Alegria was standing out front when Cisneros allegedly opened fire - unloading four .40-caliber bullets from a Smith & Wesson handgun.

Alegria suffered gunshot wounds to the chest, side and pelvis. He died an hour later at Washoe Medical Center. Fuentes was struck by a bullet just above his right knee and taken to Washoe Medical Center. Cisneros fled.

An anonymous friend of Armstrong's alleged Tuesday the single mother had reason to fear Fuentes.

"He beats her up constantly," the woman said. "I'd tell her to call the police, but she never would."

On at least two occasions last year witnesses came to Armstrong's aid.

Court records show Fuentes was charged May 18, 2003, with domestic battery in which he allegedly elbowed Armstrong in the head while the two argued at a Carson Street casino.

Thirteen days later, he was charged with domestic battery, kidnapping, battery, burglary and probation violation.

At the time of his arrest, Armstrong told police, Fuentes "slapped and kicked her" and forced her to stay with her 3-year-old daughter overnight at his uncle's house. In the morning, she told police, he threatened her with more physical violence if she did not walk with him to his house.

En route, Armstrong ran up to a man walking to his car and asked for help. When the man tried to call 911, Fuentes allegedly grabbed the phone from him and smacked him in the head. As the man ran into his house, the police reports states, Fuentes chased him inside, then threw a candlestick striking the man's wife in the head.

Court records indicate in both cases, Armstrong refused to testify against Fuentes. The first case was dismissed July 22, 2003.

In the second case, Fuentes successfully completed six months of boot camp and pleaded guilty to battery. The husband and wife victims and Armstrong submitted letters asking the sentencing judge to not send Fuentes to prison.

Prosecutors say it's possible Fuentes will be charged with home invasion in the Tuesday assault.

On Thursday, friends and family laid to rest Alegria on what would have been his 24th birthday.

About 400-500 mourners, some wearing T-shirts which read "In Loving Memory of Juan Carlos Alegria. AKA Duke," made their way through Walton's Funeral Home for the viewing, which began at 10 a.m. and lasted until 7 p.m.

The El Salvador native served a stint in the U.S. Navy before returning to Nevada last year, his sister Alba Alegria said.

Also on Thursday, police released information on a possible vehicle in which Cisneros may have fled to Southern California accompanied by his brother Saul "Tubbs" Cisneros, 21, Danny Flores and Steve "Speedy" Contreras, 20.

Contreras was arrested Tuesday at 11 a.m. when police allegedly found marijuana and paraphernalia in his home in the 1800 block of Long Street in the search for the suspected shooter. He bailed out six and a half hours later and has since disappeared, Carson City Sheriff's Sgt. Bob White said.

Police warn Cisneros and his companions may be armed with an AK-47.

A .40-caliber handgun found in some brush two blocks north of the shooting Wednesday is being tested to determine if it's the one used in the shooting, White said.

Contact F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.