One more involved in South Lake Tahoe murder sentenced to Life Without Possibility of Parole

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - In November 2021, a South Lake Tahoe jury of six men, and six women found Tevarez Richard Lopez guilty of murdering Dennis "Spike" Wright, Jr. at the Beverly Lodge in South Lake Tahoe on January 30, 2016.

The jury found him guilty on all counts and special circumstances: Being engaged in a robbery where a murder was committed; two counts of second-degree robbery, both with firearms involved; and conspiracy with transportation of marijuana. Because of the use of a firearm in the crimes, Lopez faced life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On Friday, he heard his fate as Judge Suzanne Kingsbury sentenced him to a total of Life Without the Possibility of Parole for the first-degree murder of Wright with special circumstances - the jury had found the murder was committed during a robbery. He also received six years for the robbery of Wright's girlfriend Kyndra Ghiorso (a midterm sentence of three years doubled to six years due to a prior strike conviction in 2003). That sentence will run consecutively since it is a second victim.

In a second case for Lopez, a sentence of 11 years and four months was imposed to run concurrently for a negotiated deal for charges stemming from marijuana operations. This was the midterm sentence of five years, doubled to ten due to his admission to the prior strike conviction, plus the 1/3 midterm of two ears (eight months).

He was ordered into the custody of the California Department of Corrections for placement.

The sentencing came after a long delay on December 2 as Lopez refused to come to court to learn his fate. His lawyer, James Warden, said his client did not wish to be present as the victims read their impact statements and the judge sentenced him. When the judge refused the request, Warden sent a note to his client through the bailiff to tell him his presence was requested. Judge Kingsbury said Lopez needed to be brought to court.

Multiple friends and family of Wright's spoke passionately during the victim's impact statement portion of the proceedings. They portrayed a loving man who would do anything for others and is dearly missed.

"You started the neverending nightmare," Kyndra told Lopez.

Not only did you play a major part, but are the person who orchestrated it all, and was involved in the drug trade at a high level which presents a significant risk to public safety, Judge Kingsbury told Lopez.

Lopez has been in the El Dorado County Jail for 2,396 days since being arrested after Wright's murder. He was one of seven people arrested in connection with the murder which took place after Wright brought about 100 pounds of marijuana to South Lake Tahoe to sell to a prearranged buyer at the Beverly Lodge for $100,000. During the 2021 trial, it was shown that Lopez had put together the deal from his home in western El Dorado County. He and one of the other men arrested, Tug Keller, were on their way to South Lake Tahoe in a vehicle, Wright and his girlfriend Kyndra Ghiorso were in another vehicle - both to meet up with the buyer at a motel. Along the way, there was a discussion on a cell phone about the fee Lopez and Keller were going to collect ($100 per pound) for the deal, but that sum did not work for Wright so the agreement was terminated. The following day Lopez, who still wanted to get the deal completed, started getting a group of five acquaintances from the Vallejo area together. Lopez and Wright agreed to another deal fee, but the difference this time, the Vallejo group was going to be there to rob Wright and Ghiorso of the $100,000 they would collect. Also different was that Lopez was not going to travel to South Lake Tahoe as he was going to a funeral so the trial showed how he organized all the other parties. The deal did not go through as the buyer decided not to buy for unknown reasons and left the Beverly Lodge with his money, and Wright and Ghiorso packed up the marijuana to head back to their home. Two men came from around the corner to rob the pair, but Wright ended up getting shot and killed, and Kyndra pistol-whipped. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department investigated and identified the suspects and they were rounded up.

Just before Thanksgiving, Dion Vaccaro was sentenced to Life Without the Possibility of Parole for 1st-degree murder and the court imposed another 25 years to life because the jury found that he has used a gun to commit the murder. The court also imposed three years for robbery, and two years for witness intimidation. He was Lopez's contact who gathered the group to come to South Lake Tahoe and fired the fatal shot.

Lopez, like Vaccaro, is expected to file appeals through the appellate courts but is still headed to state prison while that process works itself out. The court process has been lengthy, with Judge Kingsbury allowing all charged in the murder to have a fair process in case of challenges down the road.

At this time both men are still in the El Dorado County Jail.

After the murder, detectives from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department (SLTPD) rounded up the suspects from around the country (ages are at the time of arrest):

2/16/16 - Tristan Batten, 18, was arrested in Vallejo, Calif. (he pleaded guilty on 11/22/16 and was sentenced 26-years-to-life is in the Mule Creek State Prison)

2/17/16 - Harvest Davidson, 20, of Antioch, Calif. was arrested in Sacramento, Calif. In Nov. 2022, sentenced to 8 years in prison for his role. Has been jailed since his arrest and he received credit for time served and could be out of jail by mid-December.

2/27/16 – Vanessa Muzio, 18, was arrested in New Mexico and has since pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder and served her time.

4/19/16 - Domenic Randolph, 22, was arrested in Harrison County, Texas. (He is set for trial in April 2023 though the DA has offered him 15 to life if he pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder. Offer open until January 9, 2023)

4/28/16 - Tevarez Lopez, 33, of Georgetown, Calif. was arrested in the County Jail where he was being held on other charges. See above.

5/31/16 - Dion Jermaine Vaccaro, 26, was arrested in Oklahoma City. Sentenced to Life Without Parole in November 2022 and awaiting transfer to state prison.

9/15/16 – Andrew Adams, 25, was arrested in his hometown of Suisun City, Calif.(He pleaded guilty on 7/12/21 and is serving a sentence of 15 years to life in the California State Prison, Sacramento)