Murder in the Mountains

It is a story about drugs.
It is a story about money.
It is a story about murder.

It has been exactly two years since Dennis Wright, Jr., 40, was shot and killed outside a room at the Beverly Lodge in South Lake Tahoe. Since that time eight suspects have been arrested, two have pleaded guilty, one has told his tale in front of the court, and five have been waiting in the El Dorado County jails in Placerville and South Lake Tahoe for their day in court.

With every day the suspects stay in jail, justice is closer for Wright’s family.

His mother Janet doesn’t want anyone to forget the victim in this crime. She knows her son shouldn’t have brought marijuana to South Lake Tahoe, but she also knows that he shouldn’t have been killed for doing so.

Wright was born in Placerville and was a life-long resident of Amador County, much of that time spent in the town of Mt. Aukum. He was a boy scout, high school soccer MVP, a licensed contractor, a master gardener. He was a son, a grandson, a brother, an uncle. Wright was also going to make a run for county supervisor. He also went by the nicknames of “Spike,” “Lil Man,” “Partner,” and “Bro.”

A stoic figure in the courtroom at all of hearings of the suspects, Janet Wright sits and listens to the proceedings, often with tears in her eyes as she listens to what transpired that snowy night in January. She drives to South Lake Tahoe with Spike’s father, Dennis, Sr., often to sit through just 30 or 45 minutes of court time, other times for hours with a court room full of the suspects’ families. Those family members and friends have worn badges with the defendant’s pictures on them, something Janet responded to by putting a picture of her son’s face on a small stick that she carries in court.

The courtroom has been an interesting scene for the last two years. After two of the suspects pleaded guilty, five suspects remain. Those five, and with their five lawyers, all sit side by side at tables put together in a “L” shape in front of El Dorado County Judge Suzanne Kingsbury. The El Dorado County District Attorney's Office is also there as they prepare the case for trial.

The two years of pre-trial motions, dispositions and conferences and hearings will come to an end when those remaining five suspects go on trial for murder and robbery. Trial is set for May 15, 2018, but where the trial(s) will take place is yet to be seen since courtrooms in South Lake Tahoe cannot hold five separate trials going on simultaneously should the defendants choose to not be tried together. Five trials would need five juries and court room personnel. In a perfect scenario all five would have the same trial, but most likely, in the spirit of protecting their individual clients, the lawyers won't let that happen.

During the trial(s), a story will be told of a drug deal for 100 pounds of marijuana put together by a third, and perhaps fourth party, a buyer, and a wide circle of acquaintances that may have known about what was going to go down in South Lake Tahoe on January 30, 2016.

Wright arrived at the Highway 50 motel with his girlfriend, and at the motel met with one man who set up the deal, and another who wanted to purchase the marijuana. For reasons not yet revealed publicly, the buyer pulled out and left the motel. As Wright was packing up his truck with the marijuana, a person (or persons) came from behind the side of the motel and shot the Amador County man.

After the shooting, South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) immediately protected the crime scene, set up a tent at the motel and went to work on uncovering what happened.

For nine months, investigative police work by STLPD detectives followed the trail of suspects from California to Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

Arrested were (Arrest dates and suspect name, age at time of arrest)
2/16/16 - Tristan Batten, 18, was arrested in Vallejo, Calif. (he pleaded guilty on 11/22/16)
2/17/16 - Harvest Davidson, 20, of Antioch, Calif. was arrested in Sacramento, Calif.
2/27/16 – Vanessa Muzio, 18, was arrested in New Mexico and has since pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder.
4/19/16 - Domenic Randolph, 22, was arrested in Harrison County, Texas
4/28/16 - Tevarez Lopez, 33, of Georgetown, Calif.was arrested in the County Jail where he was being held on other charges
5/31/16 - Dion Jermaine Vacarro, 26, was arrested in Oklahoma City.
9/15/16 – Andrew Adams, 25, was arrested in his hometown of Suisun City, Calif.

The end of this story has yet to be written, but by summer the outcome should be known, and Janet Wright hopes to have justice for her son.