Second Degree Murder Sentencing

WCDA Secures Life Sentence Against Defendant Convicted of 2021 Murder and Armed Robbery

Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks announces that Reno resident Nicholas Silva, age 25 has been sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 30 years.

Silva was found guilty after a seven-day trial in District Court of Second-Degree Murder with Use of a Deadly Weapon and Robbery with the Use of a Deadly Weapon.

On March 2, 2021, officers with the Reno Police Department (RPD) responded to reports of a shooting at a home on S. Virginia St., where they found the body of 61-year-old Charles Hooper. The investigation determined that Silva shot Hooper, identified as the boyfriend of Silva’s mother, in their shared home because Hooper had music playing while Silva was trying to sleep.

While officers were still on scene of the shooting, RPD received a report of an armed robbery at a 7-Eleven on S. McCarran. Upon arrival, officers learned Silva had robbed the store clerk, at gunpoint. After a 100-mph pursuit across county lines, Silva was apprehended by Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies.   

At sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Nicole Hicks argued that Mr. Silva unnecessarily took the life of Mr. Hooper and forever changed the life of the store clerk, before putting the community at risk by traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph for more than 55 miles. The Honorable Judge Sigurdson presided over the trial and imposed the sentence.