Gang member gets life term in fatal shooting

A North Las Vegas man considered to be a leader of the hybrid gang called Squad Up was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for his role in a 2004 shooting that left one man dead and a woman baby-sitting young children wounded.

Donnie Bryant, 20, was convicted of racketeering, murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, assault and possession of a deadly weapon in February.

Prosecutors told jurors that Bryant was one of two young gang members who stormed the Buena Vista apartment complex donning black hooded sweatshirts and shooting randomly into crowds gathered outside enjoying the fall weather.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss said Bryant and co-defendant Jonathon Toliver intended to kill Jarbirey Carter over a drug turf dispute. Instead, the deadly bullets struck Gilbert Henry. Toliver was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year.

In February, witnesses testified that Squad Up, a gang made up of rival gang members, were upset at the infiltration of New Orleans residents at the Buena Vista apartments. They were threatened by the competition to sell drugs in the neighborhood.

During the trial, Bryant's attorney, Cheryl Field-Lang acknowledged that Bryant was a member of the Rolling 60s street gang. But she urged jurors not to judge the young man by that association.

"He's a young man from a poor neighborhood who joined the Rolling 60s because something was missing from his life," she said.

Bliss said on Sept. 13, 2004, Bryant was wearing an ankle bracelet to monitor his whereabouts after a previous crime. He was unaccounted for between 2 p.m. and 8:41 p.m. that day. The shooting occurred at about 8:20 p.m.

North Las Vegas police officers discovered a black hooded sweatshirt in a garbage can outside Bryant's home. Tests on the shirt showed Bryant's DNA and gunshot residue, Bliss said.