In February 2024, Mashenka Reid (17) allegedly killed her father and younger brother in Nevada. She also considered killing her toddler sister.
Police responded to a home in Stead, Nevada on Friday February 9, 2024.
They went to a home on Silver Sky Parkway near Silver Desert Way less than a half mile east of Stead Boulevard at around 4 p.m. Friday.
At the time, they said that they found two deceased people as well as the shooter in the house and that there was no risk to the public.
The following day, February 10, police booked Mashenka Reid on adult charges of open murder.
Open murder means the alleged crime could be first degree murder, second degree murder or manslaughter.
The victims were found to be Mashenka’s father Justin Reid and her younger brother.
Court documents were released on February 12 and we found out some new information.
We learned that police responded to the house after a neighbor reported hearing what sounded like muffled gunshots and someone shouting for help. Before they arrived, dispatch received another call, apparently from Mashenka herself, saying she had shot her father and brother.
“I shot my dad.” she told the dispatcher. When the dispatcher tried to ask another question Mashenka responded by saying “I shot my brother,” before saying “my brother’s dead.”
Dispatch asked, “How old are you?” and Mashenka responded “17.”. Dispatch then asked ”What’s your name?” and the response was “Mashenka Ann Marie Reid.” The dispatcher asked the caller to confirm hername, to which she responded again, “Mashenka Ann MarieReid.”
When asked what happened, she reportedly said “I just couldn’t resist the urge to kill somebody.”
Mashenka was asked by dispatch how old her dad and her brother were and she stated her dad was in his high forties or fifties and her brother was about four.
Dispatch asked Mashenka what clothes she was wearing so that officers could identify her. Mashenka stated she was wearing a black turtleneck and blue shorts and she had glasses.
Officers arrived to find her father dead in the garage, shot multiple times. They also located her brother, described as four to five years old, dead on the living room couch with a gunshot wound to the head. Her little sister was unharmed in a locked bedroom. A handgun was lying where Mashenka had dropped it.
More information was released on February 14, 2024.
According to court documents obtained by KOLO 8 News Now, Mashenka told police she grabbed her dad’s gun and waited for him to return from the store before allegedly shooting and killing him and her brother.
She told investigators that she shot her father as he came through the door before shooting her brother. She then reportedly contemplated killing her younger sister as well. Mashenka told police she had asked her father to go to the store so that she could stall for time so she could remember how to use the gun.
After re-learning how to use the gun, a Walther PPS, she put her sister in her father’s room and locked the door. She then waited approximately “two arm lengths” away from the garage door entry and waited for her father to return.
Once he returned home, Mashenka told police she shot her father two to three times.
She then walked towards her brother who was laying on the futon in the living room and shot him in the head twice. She told police she then tried to break into her father’s room by shooting into the door, telling police she intended to shoot or stab her sister if she had gotten into the room.
She had placed a knife on top of the washer and dryer which she said she had intended to use to kill her sister, according to court documents.
“I asked Mashenka what she was going to do had she gotten into the room with (her sister). Mashenka had described to me she was either going to shoot (her sister) or stab her,” the police report says.
After realizing she would be unable to get into the room, she told police she had thoughts of stabbing herself, but said she felt that was too merciful for herself, and that she deserved worse.
Mashenka told police she had been “set off” when her mother left on December 15,
She told police about her motive “I guess about my mom running away from us.”
Mashenka told police that she did not receive an explanation from her mother as to why she ran away and that her mother, ”never said a word-” in reference to her reasons for leaving the family.
Mashenka admitted to being “extremely depressed” about her mother leaving. She said however they were not very close and did not talk much prior to her mother leaving. She said any conversation would trail off and her mother would start talking about spirits and aliens.
Police also asked Mashenka about how her feelings and experiences had changed since her mother left.
Mashenka told police that she began getting thoughts of murder and rape. She said that she would ‘feel kind of hot’ whenever she saw anyone cry or bleed. She said she felt hot in her face and ‘down there’ in her genital region.
According to court filings, Mashenka’s parents divorced in 2016.
She also told police she would watch YouTube shorts on her phone and that things she would hear would cause her to have thoughts of torturing “them”, which Mashenka said did not just mean family, but anybody experiencing pain. She said she would think about how she would torture “them”, including choking “them”, shooting “them”, stabbing “them”, or setting “them” on fire.
Mashenka was responsible for caring for her two siblings, including her special-needs brother, during the week while her father attended school. She told police that she would stay home Monday – Friday for about half the day to look after her siblings.
Asked how she felt about her babysitting duties, she allegedly said that she got more and more angry from listening to her brother screaming.
Mashenka stated that her brother’s screams would cause her to have the hot feeling she described.
She also described another instance in which her father was crying in his chair while playing video games. She said that her dad would cry because he missed her mother, or because he hated her and himself.
She told police her brother has autism.
Mashenka also told police that it had been hard for her to make friends and she detailed an experience that she had online in January 2024.
She told police that she met someone on a dating app, while she was using the name ‘Hawkish’. She told the person she was communicating with that she was 18 and she sent nude photographs of herself to the person. She said she ended up stopping communication with the person as she believed it was illegal.
Mashenka has since also charged with attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon.
GAVIN SMITH CASE
Gavin Smith (16) murdered his mother Risa Mae Saunders, 39, his stepfather Daniel Dale Long, 37, and his brothers Gage Ripley, 12, and Jameson Long, 3, in their Cemetery Road home near Elkview, West Virginia on December 9, 2020.
Some info on the victims:
Risa was a homemaker, but that entailed being a baker, loving friend, boo boo kisser, and her most proud and loved job was that of being a mother. Risa enjoyed spending time with her family and caring for her children. She always found a kind word to say, was always thoughtful of others and was Daddy’s little girl, the sunshine in his day. Risa could bake a cake like nobody’s business, and always presented one for a celebration (which was very much appreciated since they were the best cakes, made with love). Risa always made the best of any situation; she enjoyed making others smile and hearing the laughter of her children and her family.
In 2019, she married her husband Daniel (Dan) Long. When they met only a few short years before, Daniel swept her off of her feet and together they raised three young boys.
Danny enjoyed swimming, cooking, and being a Dad and doing things with his children.
Gage enjoyed playing video games, archery, building forts, castles, and other creations with his Lego blocks. Gage had a contagious smile and loved to help others. He enjoyed the outdoors, swimming, and spending time with his brothers, cousins, and friends. Gage loved to help bake, especially cookies.
Jameson enjoyed singing & dancing to silly songs, watching Paw Patrol, and building Lego forts and buildings with his brother. Jameson was an active little boy who loved making silly faces to elicit giggles from others, and was his Paw Paw’s little buddy, his pride and joy and he always wanted to help his Paw Paw. Jameson could light up a room with his contagious smile and bright eyes.
Gavin had been dating Rebecca Walker at the time of the murders. They met a few weeks before the Covid lockdown. Gavin’s parents did not approve of her.
“I know that he wasn’t allowed to talk to me. He wanted to be around me and spend time with me, but his parents didn’t want that to happen,” Rebecca said.
Gavin’s parents had put padlocks on doors to the house and also on the fridge. Dfense attornies would say that the home was “basically a pressure cooker.” “He was basically trapped in his household from a combination of his family’s rules and COVID shutting down the schools. Gavin wasn’t allowed to leave the house,” Defense Attorney John Sullivan went on to say.
Rebecca has said that she tried to get help for Gavin before the murders. She tried to find a counsellor for him “so he could talk to someone about what was going on at home.”
“I was trying to be there for him,” she said. “I was trying to do what I felt like I needed to do to make sure he had somebody. It made me angry that they (Smith’s parents) felt the way they did about me because I didn’t think I had done anything wrong.”
Gavin’s parents forbid him to contact Rebecca but he did it anyway. Rebecca and Gavin were in constant contact, with WV Metro News reporting that “the couple exchanged over 15,000 pages Facebook messages.”
In December 2020, Rebecca said that her grandmother, whose house she was living in at the time, was going out of town and it gave her and Gavin the opportunity to be together.
Rebecca said that Gavin became”angry” when he was picked up by the sheriff’s office after multiple attempts to run away.
Gavin spoke to Rebecca about “wanting to kill his family.” She said she also agreed that this was a way for them to be together.
On December 9, 2020, Gavin and Rebecca were on a video call. Gavin showed her that he had a gun and a knife.
“He was planning to kill his mom and step-dad, but however, I can’t exactly recall what was used with every single victim. But I do know there was a gun and a knife involved,” she said
“Did you see the gun on the camera?” Kanawha County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Don Morris asked would later ask Rebecca.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Who had the gun in their hand?” Prosecutor Morris continued.
“Gavin did,” Rebecca responded.
“Did he also have a knife?” Prosecutor Morris asked.
“Yes,” Rebecca said. “He was planning to kill his mom and his step dad.”
Rebecca was asked if she encouraged Gavin to commit the murders. “Yes, I did,” she said. “I was on the video chat with him. I didn’t tell him but I was texting him on the video chat. I told him to ‘hurry up and do it.'”
“I do want to say that I was not at his house at this time. I was on video chat with him as this was occurring. But I did encourage him and say to, ‘hurry up and do it,'” Rebecca said. “There was, ‘please hurry up and do it,’ ‘get it over with.’ That’s all I can remember.”
“Did you want him to shoot his family?” Defense Attorney John Sullivan would later ask Rebecca.
“Unfortunately, yes I did,” she replied.
“Why did you want him to do that?” Attorney Sullivan asked.
“Because I felt like if he did it, it would give me and him the opportunity to be together,” Rebecca said.
At some point during the video call, the screen went black, she said.
“I could not see what he did because the screen was pitch black,” Rebecca said. “When he came back on, he seemed very panicked, nervous and scared. I was trying to calm him down and tell him it was going to be OK.”
Gavin killed his parents and Gage before returning to the video call. After hearing the Jameson child crying in the background, Gavin then killed him.
Gavin sent some messages about the murders to Rebecca.
“Ok baby, I’m a murderer,” one message said.
“I killed Jameson. I’m crying,” another message read.
After the murders, Gavin fled to Rebecca’s grandmother’s home where he hid. He was arrested after relatives found the bodies of his family, four days after they died.
Gavin was charged with four counts of first-degree murder. He was also charged with use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Rebecca was accused of letting Gavin hide at her grandmother’s home and later pleaded guilty to four counts of being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. She was sentenced to ten years in prison.
Rebecca was eligible for parole in June 2023, but according to the media, nothing happened with that. Her expected release date is Dec. 15, 2025.
In January 2023, Gavin was found guilty of the murders of his family. He was given three life sentences for the murders of his mother, stepfather and youngest brother Jamseon.
The judge also sentenced him to 40 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder for the death of his brother, Gage, plus another 10 years for the use or presentment of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
However, because Gavin committed the murders while 16 years of age, the life sentences were handed with mercy, meaning the defendant can apply for a pardon after he becomes eligible for parole after serving 15 years of his sentence, according to West Virginia state law. The mandate can be applied retroactively to fit the defendant’s age when the crimes occurred, despite his now being over 18 and being tried as an adult.
He will automatically appear before the state Parole Board 15 years after his conviction because of the law.
Judge Kenneth Ballard said he only granted mercy because it was mandated by law, according to NBC Huntington, West Virginia affiliate WSAZ-TV.
Judge Ballard called the murders “an act of pure evil,” according to WCHS-TV.
“This was a heinous crime. You murdered your entire family in cold blood, Mr. Smith. You devised this plan to kill your family days and weeks in advance for the selfish reason of spending time with your girlfriend,” said Ballard. “You executed your mother and stepfather by shooting them in the head while they were asleep. Then you executed your two brothers by shooting them in the head, the youngest of which was hiding under his crib.”
At sentencing, Gavin spoke about his regrets.
“I do regret this, and if I could, I would take it back because it is one of my deepest regrets.”
SOURCE LIST
https://www.kolotv.com/2024/02/10/two-dead-stead-after-shooting-police-have-suspected-shooter
https://www.waybrightfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Risa-Mae-Saunders?obId=19320947
https://www.waybrightfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Jameson-Aries-Long?obId=19320973#/celebrationWall
https://www.waybrightfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Gage-Xavier-Ripley?obId=19320965#/celebrationWall