Man sentenced to prison for 2008 shooting; co-defendant gets probation

The man who shot and seriously wounded Western High School student Victor Bravo in 2008 was sentenced to prison Monday while his co-defendant received probation.

Calvin Shelton, 20, apologized to the victim and his family. He took responsibility for his actions, which left Bravo, 15 at the time, with two bullet wounds during a fistfight near Gibson Middle School on Feb. 25, 2008.

In sentencing Shelton to a term of four to 10 years in prison, District Judge Kenneth Cory honored the plea agreement between prosecutor Sonja Jimenez and defense attorney Jonathan MacArthur.

Shelton pleaded guilty in November to one count of conspiracy to commit battery with use of a deadly weapon, a felony, and a gross misdemeanor count of conspiracy to commit a crime. He received credit for roughly 730 days served in the Clark County Detention Center .

Cory appeared to surprise everyone, including Shelton's co-defendant, Tevin O'Neal Carr, 18, when he sentenced Carr to a term of probation. Carr entered an Alford plea late last year to a charge of battery causing substantial bodily harm, meaning he admitted that the state could prove its case against him without pleading guilty. The court treats such pleas the same as guilty pleas.

"You've done everything I can think of to show progress, glowing progress," Cory said. "I'm going to give you an opportunity. This is one instance I don't agree" with the Division of Parole and Probation, which recommended a prison term.

Defense attorney Dan Winder provided the court with letters from teachers at Jeffrey Behavior Senior High School in Las Vegas, where Carr has received academic awards since the shooting. He has remained on house arrest without any problems for more than two years.

Carr, a former standout athlete at Western High School, read a statement in which he apologized to Bravo and Bravo's family.

"I'm truly sorry," he said. "I've had two years to think about what I did, and I hope Victor forgives me."

Allegations that Carr and Shelton were affiliated with a gang were never substantiated. The day Bravo was shot, Carr, then 16, and another boy got into a fistfight. Others on both sides joined in, and Shelton shot Bravo. Students at nearby Gibson Middle School had been excused for the day less than 15 minutes earlier.

Witnesses said the incident between black and Hispanic students was a result of racial tensions. Police investigators said that there was no evidence to support that claim and that there were other conflicting statements.

Cory noted that times have changed since he was in high school, when gunplay was unheard of and fights between boys rarely resulted in death.

"Anybody who shows up at a fight these days is taking a risk," he said in sentencing Carr to four years of probation, with one to four years in prison hanging over his head.

Both Carr and Shelton were ordered to pay more than $85,500 in restitution. It was unclear whether Bravo has fully recovered from his injuries, but Winder thinks the restitution is for medical bills.

"It's tough for young men growing up in today's society," Winder said after the hearing.