Man pleads in Silver Springs burglary murder

One year to the day Tyler Stuart Gardner was gunned down in the driveway of his family home in Silver Springs, a jury will be impaneled to determine what sentence his alleged killer will serve after pleading guilty to first-degree murder Monday.

Alexander Steven King, 20, entered the guilty plea to first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon Monday morning in Yerington before Third Judicial District Court Judge Bill Rogers. As a condition of the plea agreement, King requested a jury determine what sentence he will serve.

First-degree murder carries four penalties - to include death. But as part of the plea agreement, District Attorney Bob Auer will not seek the death penalty. He will instead ask jurors to sentence King to life without parole. King's attorney hopes to get King either a term of life with parole after 20 years, or a definite term of 20 to 50 years.

In exchange for the plea, charges of burglary, home invasion and being a felon in possession of firearm were dismissed.

"It was a unique way to get a resolution of this case short of having a full jury trial. (A jury) was part of what the defense wanted to have," said Auer. "Part of what the state wanted to do was to try to shorten the trial when everyone knew the guy was guilty."

King stands accused of shooting to death Gardner, 18, on Jan. 3 after Gardner and his girlfriend interrupted King burglarizing the Silver Springs home they shared with Gardner's grandfather.

After the girlfriend happened upon King inside the home, he ran outside and came upon Gardner walking toward the house, said Lyon County Sheriff's Lt. Bryan Veil.

Investigators are uncertain if an altercation broke out between the two young men, but by the time King fled, Gardner had been shot in the chest.

The 2010 Silver Stage High graduate died from his injuries at a Reno trauma center.

King was captured a short time later hiding in the desert nearby.

Beginning on Jan. 3, 2012, a jury will be seated for three days of testimony to determine King's fate. Gardner's family is expected to testify, as is King's family.

King remains in the Lyon County Jail without bail.