A Carson City jury convicted Da'lecs Smith of second-degree murder in the killing of Gilbert Lopez.

Friday's verdict is the jury's finding. It is not a term a judge has imposed. The Nevada Appeal reported the exposure as 25 years to life with parole possible after 10 years, and it did not list the concealed-weapon count in its Monday account of the verdict. Carson Now and KOLO listed that count and did not print the 25-to-life figure. The Appeal reported District Attorney Garrit Pruyt said Smith claimed self-defense. That claim did not keep the jury from a murder verdict. Sentencing is still ahead.

Carson Now reported Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, that a Carson City jury on Friday, Oct. 23, found Da'lecs Smith guilty of second-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon, and of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, in the April 30, 2025 shooting death of Gilbert Lopez outside the Blue Bull Bar. The site reported the verdict came late Friday, that a sentencing date has not been determined, and that a date is expected within the coming months. KOLO reported the same two findings, that Smith had been charged with open murder, that the shooting was in April 2025 outside the Blue Bull Bar, and that a sentencing date has not been announced. The Nevada Appeal reported a jury trial that concluded Oct. 23 ended in a second-degree murder conviction. Its Monday story did not print the concealed-weapon count in the verdict sentence, and it did not name the bar. It reported the shooting was outside a bar on Telegraph Street.

The Appeal reported Lopez was 46, that he was unarmed, that he was shot five times, and that he was declared dead at the scene, according to District Attorney Garrit Pruyt. It reported Smith turned himself in after the shooting. It reported Pruyt said Monday that Smith was upset because Lopez had put him in a headlock a few months before, and that Pruyt would not go on the record about another issue that may have contributed. It reported that, in an earlier Appeal story, the men argued at the bar and no physical fight happened before the shooting. KOLO reported the Carson City Sheriff's Office believes Lopez and Smith may have exchanged words in the bar and that no physical altercation was reported. The headlock, a few months earlier, is Pruyt's account to the Appeal. The sheriff's office line KOLO printed is about the bar that night. Carson Now's Monday story names the Blue Bull and the date and does not describe the headlock, the five shots, or a surrender.

The Appeal and Carson Now reported the trial began Oct. 13 before District Court Judge Jason Woodbury, and that it was tried by Chief Deputy District Attorney Tyson League and Deputy District Attorney Leslie Butori. Carson Now identified Butori as Deputy District Attorney III. The Appeal reported Pruyt said the state called 13 witnesses and the defense called five, and that Smith claimed self-defense. It reported he could have been convicted of first- or second-degree murder or of voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, and that the office was not seeking the death penalty. It reported he faces 25 years to life with possible parole after 10 years, and that a release said he is to be sentenced at a future date. KOLO and Carson Now did not print that number. Carson Now quoted a district attorney release in which Pruyt praised League and Butori and said the office had worked around the clock. KOLO and Carson Now both quoted Pruyt: "The act of killing another human being is something that can never be taken back." KOLO reported the sheriff's office account of words in the bar. The self-defense claim is what Pruyt told the Appeal. It is not a finding the jury adopted.

Second-degree murder with a deadly weapon, and the concealed-weapon count Carson Now and KOLO reported, are the jury's findings in those two stories. The Appeal's 25 years to life, with parole possible after 10 years, is the exposure that paper reported. It is not a sentence Judge Woodbury has imposed. No Monday story set the sentencing date. He can still ask a higher court to review the verdict.