Life Sentence For Reno Man

District Attorney Announces Outcome Of 2015 Murder Prosecution

The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office (WCDA) has announced that a Reno man has been sentenced to life in prison after having pled no contest to the July, 2015 murder of his girlfriend. The sentence ensures that the defendant must serve a minimum of 10 years before parole eligibility. 

The WCDA’s Office filed criminal charges against Corey O’Neal Brewer, 32 from Reno in July, 2015.  Brewer subsequently pled no contest in November of 2016 and was sentenced last Wednesday on one count of Second Degree Murder.  Brewer was sentenced by District Court Judge Connie Steinheimer to the maximum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years has been served.

Brewer was arrested after the Reno Police Department (RPD) responded to a report of a deceased person.  Brewer’s elderly grandmother called 911 to report that Brewer had found his 30 year old girlfriend dead in the couple’s bedroom.  Initial responding RPD officers and medical personnel noticed bruising on the victim.  Brewer initially told police that his girlfriend had been fine when he left earlier that morning on a motorcycle ride, and that when he got home, he noticed that she was dead and called his grandmother, who lived in Wadsworth. Brewer’s grandmother drove to their apartment in Reno, and upon seeing the victim dead, called 911.

A subsequent investigation by RPD Robbery-Homicide detectives and an autopsy determined that the victim had died of asphyxiation and blunt force trauma, having suffered extensive injuries to her head, torso and internal organs.  Interviews with witnesses revealed a history of domestic violence between the couple.  During follow-up interviews with Brewer, he admitted that he had lied about his motorcycle ride.  Brewer stated that he and the victim had ingested methamphetamine, and because of that he claimed not to know how the victim had suffered the injuries she did.  Additional evidence collected from the scene implicated Brewer, who was arrested and subsequently charged by this office with the victim’s murder.    

At sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Zach Young argued that a maximum sentence for Brewer was warranted, as he had severely beat and strangled his girlfriend of several years, had a violent criminal past, and it was doubtful that Brewer did not remember how his girlfriend had suffered her injuries.  Brewer’s criminal history revealed multiple convictions for drug and violent offenses.  Specifically, Brewer had previously been convicted of False Imprisonment and Domestic Battery against a former girlfriend, and had previously been convicted of Assault With a Deadly Weapon for placing a loaded gun into a former girlfriend’s mouth.  At the sentencing hearing, more than 100 people were present to support the victim, and all wore purple – the color associated with the movement to end domestic violence.