Man pleads guilty to murder and is sentenced to up to life in prison

A Duchesne County man was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for a June 2011 fatal shooting.

Bruce Silva, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one first-degree felony count of murder and a second-degree felony count of aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury in 8th District Court in Vernal. As part of a plea agreement, seven other charges were dismissed.

Judge Edwin T. Peterson sentenced Silva to one to 15 years on the second charge. The sentences are to run consecutively. Silva received 9 months credit for time already served.

Late on June 18, Uintah County sheriff's deputies were called to a house on State Road 121 in Lapoint, where James Carey, 25, had been fatally shot and Jared Hurley, 34, suffered gunshot wounds to his arm and chest.

Silva had been at the home earlier in the night and was upset about a broken window on his car. An argument broke out and Silva said "it would not be cool" if he had to come back, court documents state.

According to witnesses, Silva and a group of men returned later that night. They wore red shirts and carried baseball bats, according to the charges.

As the groups from inside and outside the house met on the porch, Silva asked another man for a gun and then fired it, the charges state.

Silva fled the area soon after the shooting and became a fugitive.

He was arrested on Aug. 10 in Tijuana, Mexico, in a joint operation by the U.S. Marshal's Office and the Mexican federal police.

Silva's brothers – Kevin Silva, 21, Alberto Silva, 19, and Adrian Silva, 24 — were arrested a day before him. The men, all of Myton, were charged with first-degree felony murder and attempted murder for allegedly taking part in the shooting. Also charged with murder was Teaunna Cesspooch, 19, who prosecutors said drove the group to the home on the night of the shooting and Bruce Silva's girlfriend, Shadow M. Reed, 24, who was arrested by U.S. Marshals at a Salt Lake County apartment complex.

Last year, Silva's brothers and his girlfriend were offered plea deals that would have required them to testify against him. But they refused the offer.

Colin Rian Manning, as seventh defendant, was indicted in federal court with murder in the second degree within Indian Country and other charges. His case is in the jurisdiction of the federal court because he is a member of the Ute Indian Tribe.

All the remaining defendants are scheduled to appear in court for hearings beginning June through March 2013.