First full day of court for suspect in South Lake Tahoe murder

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Trial proceedings began after a jury was seated on November 4, but Tuesday was the first full day of court in the trial of Tavarez Lopez, one of the suspects in a murder at the Beverly Lodge in South Lake Tahoe on January 30, 2016.

Dennis "Spike" Wright, Jr. of Calaveras County was killed over a planned sale of 104 pounds of marijuana outside of a motel room. The buyers had decided to not purchase the three duffel bags full of marijuana that Wright had brought to sell. Jurors heard Tuesday that as he was loading them back into his truck, two men came towards Spike and his long-time girlfriend Kyndra, demanding money.

On Thursday, jurors heard opening statements from Deputy District Attorney Casey Mandrell and defense attorney James Warden. Mandrell told of the buyers, sellers and suspects, and how they all arrived at the Beverly Lodge the cold and snowy night. He will try and prove that Lopez orchestrated the planned robbery without being in South Lake Tahoe that evening, and Warden will try to convince jurors that his client is not the person responsible for the planned robbery that led to Wright's death.

Jurors heard testimony from seven witnesses on Tuesday, including Kyndra, investigators from the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office and District Attorney's Office, a man who put together the marijuana deal, and two women associated with Dion Vaccarro who was found guilty of murder in the same case in 2020.

The first witness both on Thursday afternoon and Tuesday morning was El Dorado County resident Tug Keller. Lopez rented a Georgetown home from him, and was also a connection in a few, smaller marijuana transactions, he said. Keller said he had two buyers who wanted 100 pounds of marijuana, and Lopez brought in Wright who was said to have that much quantity on hand.

The deal was first set to happen on January 29, 2016, but there was a disagreement about the financial cut both Keller and Lopez would get after the transaction, so the sale was called off. Keller said they had first asked for $100 per pound sold as their commission, or cut, for each of them. The parties went home and negotiations continued, Keller said, and he and Lopez agreed on much smaller amount - $25 per pound each, or $2,500. Once that was final they headed to South Lake Tahoe again, this time on January 30. Keller testified that he rented the motel room, then Kyndra and Spike arrived with the duffel bags of marijuana. They moved the bags into the room, then the buyers arrived and decided they didn't want to buy the strain that was brought, and left. As Spike packed up his truck to leave, two men approached from the side of the motel and demanded money. Since the sale did not occur, there was no money. The men hit Kendra on the head, got into an altercation with Spike and shot him in the stomach, grabbed her purse and ran away.

Spike died from the gunshot wound and Kyndra was taken to Barton with a head wound.

The five-week trial of Lopez was set to begin on May 11, 2021, but on April 28 he substituted his longtime attorney Warden with a southern California law firm that needed time to be brought to speed on the case. Now he is back with Warden representing him during his trial in El Dorado County Superior Court.

Testimony will be heard from more witnesses in court Wednesday, then it will resume next Tuesday due to the holiday.

Local law enforcement rounded up the group of suspects in the murder and robbery from Vallejo, California to Harrison County, Texas, and Oklahoma City.

Arrested were (Arrest dates and suspect name, age at the time of arrest)

2/16/16 - Tristan Batten, 18, was arrested in Vallejo, Calif.
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 Vaccaro, 26, was arrested in Oklahoma City.
9/15/16 – Andrew Adams, 25, was arrested in his hometown of Suisun City, Calif.

On February 25, 2020, a jury of seven men and five women from South Lake Tahoe took just 80 minutes to find Vaccaro guilty of murdering Spike and of robbery. He still hasn't been sentenced since he is claiming his attorney at the time, James Clark, provided inadequate representation. His new lawyer needed time to review all of the documents, taking months to get up to speed. Judge Suzanne Kingsbury is expected to deliver her decision on the matter on November 19, 2021. Vaccaro is currently in the South Lake Tahoe jail. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On November 22, 2016, Batten withdrew his plea of not guilty and plead guilty to an amended criminal complaint that included four felonies surrounding Wright's murder and robbery. He had arranged to provide testimony against the other defendants but during Vaccaro's trial in 2020 refused to testify, knowing his deal for testifying would be off the table. He is now serving his sentence at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione. He is getting a new attorney and is expected back in court in the future. He is facing 25 years to life. At this time he is eligible for parole in February 2035.

Adams plead no contest to murder and robbery and was sentenced to 25 years to life. Since August August 30, 2021, he is in the North Kern State Prison. According to the state's prison website, he is eligible for parole in September 2028.

Awaiting their trials are Davidson (currently in the Placerville jail), and Randolph (currently in the Placerville jail). They have been in custody since their 2016 arrests.