Seven years later. the last of those responsible for 2016 South Lake Tahoe murder heads to prison

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It has been 2,607 days since Dennis "Spike" Wright, Jr. was killed in front of the Beverly Lodge in South Lake Tahoe on January 30, 2016, and on Friday the last of the men accused of killing Spike was sentenced to prison.

Domenic Seanlee Randolph, 29, pleaded guilty earlier this month to manslaughter, and on Friday, March 24, 2023, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for manslaughter and other charges.

It was snowing on that Saturday night seven years ago when Wright and his girlfriend Kyndra Ghiorso brought 100 pounds of marijuana to town to sell to a prearranged buyer at the motel. The sale fell through, and the couple was packing up their truck to return home when two men came from around a corner to rob the pair. There was no sale, so, therefore, Wright and Ghiorso did not have the expected $100,000 in cash. After a struggle, Wright ended up being shot and killed, and Kyndra pistol-whipped.

It was swift work by the South Lake Tahoe Police Department in identifying multiple suspects for the murder, most of who came to the mountains from the Solano County area for the large amount of cash they expected to steal. Seven people were arrested in this case between February 16, 2016, and September 15, 2016 (below are the arrest dates, age at the time of arrest, and location of arrest):

2/16/16 - Tristan Batten, 18, was arrested in Vallejo, Calif.
2/17/16 - Harvest Davidson, 20, of Antioch, Calif. was arrested in Sacramento, Calif.
2/27/16 – Vanessa Muzio, 18, was arrested in New Mexico (Vaccaro's girlfriend, was involved after the fact and has since been released)
4/19/16 - Domenic Randolph, 22, was arrested in Harrison County, Texas
4/28/16 - Tevarez Lopez, 33, of Georgetown, Calif. was arrested in the El Dorado County Jail where he was being held on other charges
5/31/16 - Dion Jermaine Vaccaro, 26, was arrested in Oklahoma City
9/15/16 – Andrew Adams, 25, was arrested in his hometown of Suisun City, Calif.

The first months of court appearances had all of the arrested men with their lawyers in an L-shape arrangement in front of Judge Kingsbury. Due to the size of the superior court in South Lake Tahoe, there couldn't be more than one trial at a time, nor would there be enough citizens to fill the required number of needed jury seats. It was a long process but the court wanted to make sure all was done thoroughly to reduce the chances of future appeals.

It has been a long seven years, with the numerous cases making their way through the system, going through three deputy district attorneys, 15 lawyers, six victim's advocates, one judge (who retired before it was over but came back for these cases), 84 court dates, and dozens of stories written. Attorneys faced illnesses and COVID came.

These cases chewed through every available attorney in El Dorado County that was qualified to defend in a murder case, and the court have to go into Sacramento County to search for counsel for those accused. Each time a defendant fired their attorney the new one would require months to get up to speed on the massive amounts of discovery, thousands and thousands of pages.

During the last seven years, felony murder laws also changed so it was a stop to the process as those changes were litigated in the higher court. The felony murder law was changed so that in order for someone who was not the actual killer to be liable for murder, the individual needed to be a major participant in the crime (predicate felony - in this case, robbery) who acted with reckless indifference to human life.

On Friday, the friends and families of Spike and Kyndra were able to give their victim impact statements. All were emotional as this last chapter in court was also a closure and another goodbye to Spike.

Randolph was the only person heading to prison that spoke to the families, and he apologized, something noted by the judge and the families. He said he sincerely apologized for the pain and grief his actions caused.

"I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me," Randolph said Friday. He promised to become a better man.

Spike's mom Janet Wright has been to every court date in South Lake Tahoe, wearing a picture of Spike hanging from her neck. She thanked the court, and district attorneys Keller, Gomes, and Mandrell.

"Bad chapters can still tell good stories," Janet told Randolph. She said justice has been served as she closed the last chapter, and said she hoped he could honor Spike with a positive, worthwhile life.

"You can make a change in your life, your community," said Roni Asher, a lifelong friend of Spike's. "I believe you can be an amazing somebody, you owe us that. Be the best version of yourself."

Randolph is 29 now. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for the murder, and two years for a drug charge incurred while in the Placerville jail. He has been in jail since his 2016 arrest and has served 2,521 days with 378 days of credit, for a total of 2,899 days served (almost eight years). He will be transferred to the California Department of Corrections for placement and serve two years of probation upon release.

The Others

The trial of Vaccaro was the first, in February 2020. He was found guilty by a jury but not sentenced until November 2022 due to appeals and COVID. He is now at the Calipatria State Prison near the Salton Sea serving life without parole.

Tristan Batten was going to provide the prosecutors with his testimony about what happened and testified in front of the Grand Jury. On November 16, 2016, Batten changed his previous not-guilty plea to guilty and his record was immediately sealed. When it came to the first trial, he pleaded the fifth any deals were revoked, and was later sentenced 25 years to life. He was later brought back to El Dorado County for a reduced sentence and is now free.

On December 5, 2022, Tevarez Richard Lopez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty by a jury. He is serving his time at the Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga.

In November 2022, Harvest Davidson received a negotiated deal and was sentenced to eight years in state prison for the second-degree robbery of Spike and he admitted the person with him had a firearm. He was sentenced for the second-degree robbery of Kyndra, also with a person who had a firearm. Due to the almost seven years in jail plus time credits, he has been released.

In July 2021, Andrew Adams pleaded guilty and is serving a sentence of 15 years to life in High Desert State Prison near Madera and will be eligible for parole in 2028.