Guilty Verdict Secured

WCDA's Office Announces Outcome of Recent Robbery Trial

The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office has announced that a guilty verdict has been secured in a recent trial involving the armed robbery of a Sun Valley convenience store.  The defendant was apprehended after blood evidence left at the scene was processed and his DNA was linked to the crime through a National offender database.  Sentencing is set for November 1, 2017.

Kalum Marcell Fortune, 38 from Sparks, was found guilty last Friday on one count of Robbery and one count of Burglary in District Court after a week-long trial. Fortune, who was on probation at the time of the robbery, faces up to 25 years in prison.  Surveillance footage showed that Fortune entered the B&T market in Sun Valley on January 24, 2017, where he then robbed the store clerk at gunpoint.  During the robbery, Fortune broke display items and knocked over a cash register, possibly injuring himself. He left with a small amount of cash from the store and fled. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) responded and detectives conducted an investigation that included collecting blood evidence from the scene. This evidence was used by the Washoe County Crime Lab to establish a DNA profile for the suspect, which was then entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). A CODIS “hit” identified the suspect in the robbery as Fortune and WCSO Detectives located him.  He was arrested in February and this office subsequently filed formal criminal charges against him.

During trial, Deputy District Attorney Kevin Naughton presented evidence that identified Fortune as the suspect seen on the surveillance footage and tied him to the blood left at the scene at an estimated frequency of 1 in 11.19 octillion individuals.