Las Vegan gets two consecutive life terms

A man who fired a rifle at neighbors and police officers from the South Cove Apartments in 2002 was sentenced Friday to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Ricky Horne, 36, also withdrew his plea of guilty Friday to one count of murder with use of a deadly weapon and nine counts of attempted murder in order to plead guilty but mentally ill, following the Legislature's Oct. 1 enactment of new mental health legislation.

The plea allowed District Judge Valorie Vega to order the Department of Corrections to provide prescribed mental health treatment and medication to Horne, whom defense attorneys said has been diagnosed as bipolar and schizophrenic.

On Jan, 7, 2002 Horne used a .22-caliber rifle to kill 42-year-old Bryan Ricks and wound two others while firing rounds from his second-story apartment.

Ricks was described by area residents as a homeless drug addict, a depiction which prosecutor David Stanton did not dispute.

Ricks is also the father of two children who live with their grandmother.

"It's been terrible and as long as they took to take it (Horne's case) to trial, we thought about him every day," Rickette Ricks, the victim's sister, said after the sentencing.

Horne apologized in court, saying, "I hope my punishment is enough to make amends."

Defense attorneys Scott Bindrup and Randy Pike with the special public defenders office had argued for a sentence of life with the possibility of parole. They reminded Vega that during the shooting incident Horne asked the Las Vegas police negotiator on the telephone about Ricks' welfare.

By the time authorities arrested Horne, a 31-year-old bystander had been shot in the chest and a police officer had an injured hand, struck by a bullet fragment.

Stanton recalled how there were groups of bullet holes in neighboring apartment windows and police cars.

"They were all very logical, deliberative acts of shooting," he said.

Horne told officers he had spent the prior evening taking Ecstasy and drinking alcohol, angry about his inability to find work.

Vega noted Horne had a history of suicide attempts that started as early as elementary school.

Pike defended his client's diagnosis.

"He will constantly pick wounds," which has caused him to create scars all over his body, Pike said.

He said Horne had taken responsibility for his actions but clearly still needed treatment.

As a result of his guilty but mentally ill plea, Horne will also be segregated from the general population in prison.