Teens charged in Pahrump park shooting plead not guilty

PAHRUMP — Two men accused of fatally shooting a 22-year-old during a movie showing at Pahrump’s Ian Deutch Memorial Park pleaded not guilty to murder on Thursday.

Anthony Aguilar, 18, and Carlos Blakely, 19, who were arrested in connection with the killing of Joey Perry, appeared before Justice of the Peace Kirk Vitto in Pahrump.

Before the hearing began, relatives and friends of the defendants filled the left side of the courtroom gallery. On the right side, Joey Perry’s mother, Mari Ausiello, was joined by more than a dozen supporters.

The shooting happened around 10 p.m. July 5, when dozens of people, including small children, were in the park for a screening event for which some brought chairs and blankets to watch a movie. In the middle of the event, a fight broke out, Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill previously told the media.

After deputies arrived, the fight had resolved, so they left the park. Shortly thereafter, McGill added, a witness heard “automatic gunfire” and saw a red Chevy Camaro speed away.

Another witness police interviewed said that she knew Blakely and that he had graduated from Pahrump Valley High School in 2024, according to McGill. She also said Blakely had been known to carry a “fully automatic Glock handgun.”

When asked to clarify because Glock does not make or sell fully automatic weapons, McGill said, “It would be manufactured as a semi-automatic and modified, altered illegally to be fully automatic.”

Blakely’s attorney, Michael Troiano, previously told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that there was “a lot of speculation and no facts” in the case.

Held without bail

At an earlier hearing for Aguilar, prosecutors alleged that he, too, was a shooter, noting that the recovered bullet holes and shell casings matched ammunition found at Aguilar’s home.

By July 8, Aguilar, Blakely, and Fabian Ferrante, 19, whom authorities initially identified as a “person of interest,” had surrendered to authorities. Ferrante was later ruled out as a suspect.

Aguilar and Blakely, who both face one count of conspiracy to commit murder and another count of open murder, are being held without bail, Vitto said.

The two are due back in court on September 23.

Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.