Window shooter sentenced to year in jail

A 23-year-old Carson City man " with the maturity of a "malicious 14-year-old" " was sentenced Monday to one year in Douglas County Jail and ordered to pay nearly $27,000 restitution for a two-county shooting spree.

District Judge Michael Gibbons gave David Scott Killen credit for 80 days served since the Feb. 12, 2007, incident, but refused to consider 220 days on house arrest, or 51 days in Carson City Jail on a later offense.

Gibbons said he was obliged to put Killen away for as long as possible to protect the community.

Referring to statements from some of the 43 victims of Killen's shooting spree, Gibbons said, "When you read how much these people went through, and how much harm this caused them, I don't think this has sunk into your mind at all."

Gibbons said he wouldn't include the time Killen served on house arrest because he failed to follow court restrictions.

He was arrested in Carson City on Dec. 9 with two others after a homeowner said the three were raiding mailboxes for gift cards, money and personal information.

He is being held in Carson City Jail where he faces arraignment Tuesday on the new charges.

Killen's attorney, Martin Wiener of Reno, asked for probation so Killen could return to Elko where he was paid $2,000 a week to work as a mine driller.

Killen's wife Raquel attended the sentencing with their 7-month-old son, Killen's mother, and a family friend.

She told Gibbons she was living in a motel with her son and on welfare. She said she had been hospitalized briefly for post-partum depression, and Killen had taken care of their son before his latest arrest Dec. 9.

"I don't believe jail is the place for Scott," she said. "I don't think it would help in our situation. He needs to get back to his family and get on with his life."

Carson City deputy district attorney Gerald Gardner, acting as special prosecutor, said until Killen was arrested in December, he was considering recommending probation and jail time.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Killen is destined to spend the next years of his life in jail," Gardner said. "It's his own doing and the only way you can guarantee he won't commit another crime.

"I see a 23-year-old who has the emotional maturity of a 14-year-old. Unfortunately, it's a malicious 14-year-old. I don't think he's all of sudden going to stop."

Killen pleaded guilty to shooting out windows in Carson City, Stateline and Douglas County with a BB gun or wrist rocket.

He was apprehended after he shot out the window in a van driven by a Gardnerville Ranchos woman accompanied by her teenage daughter.

They were unhurt, and she was able to identify Killen when he was stopped by Douglas County deputies.