Alleged library shooter waives arraignment

CLOVIS — The alleged library shooter has waived an arraignment scheduled for this morning and entered a plea of not guilty on all charges, according to court documents.

Nathaniel Jouett, 16, faces "a potential of two life sentences plus 117 years in prison" after a grand jury indicted him as an adult on Sept. 8, the records show. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon pertaining to the Aug. 28 shooting at the Clovis-Carver Public Library that killed two and injured four others.

Jouett is also charged with 20 counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony, six counts of abuse of a child not resulting in death or great bodily harm, and one count of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm.

Jouett signed his waiver of appearance and plea entry on Friday, District Attorney Andrea Reeb approved the document Monday and District Judge Matthew Chandler signed it Wednesday.

Assistant Public Defender Stephen Taylor did not immediately reply to a request for comment following word of Jouett's plea.

Reeb said Jouett has also agreed to a "no-bond hold" as he remains in the Curry County detention center.

A violent year

The mass shooting late last month marked a tragic precedent for Clovis in a year that has already seen a higher homicide rate than normal.

In its 2016 Annual Report, the Clovis Police Department noted an average of two murders per year in the city since 2012, with no single year in that time frame exceeding three murders.

Just over nine months into 2017, the city has had six reported homicides — more than the past three years combined — and is scheduled to try a cold-case slaying from 2003 before the end of the year.

Progress on those homicide investigations are detailed as follows:

• Lorenzo Martinez, 51, charged with the first-degree murder Feb. 13 of Mary Neal, is scheduled for an arraignment on Monday at 9 a.m.

• David "Bo Bo" Lopez, 43, and Carlos Gallegos, 25, were both killed during what police described as an argument on the early morning of April 20 at apartments on the 1000 Block of Martin Luther King Boulevard. Citing eyewitness testimony and physical evidence, CPD said in a press release April 27 that Gallegos and Lopez were the sole suspects in the homicide investigation and that they appeared to inflict fatal wounds on each other.

• Jouett was charged this month for the shooting deaths of librarians Wanda Walters and Krissie Carter. He told police detectives he took handguns from his father's safe and intended to shoot up the high school, but ended up instead at the library.

Reeb said Jouett is not yet scheduled for his next court appearance, as all judges in the 9th Judicial District have recused themselves.

• Darryl Turner, 30, was identified in a Sept. 7 CPD press release as a suspect in the Sept. 5 homicide of David McDonald, 30, in the apartments on the 1000 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard. There is still an active arrest warrant out for Turner on an open count of murder.

• William Hadix, 69, is charged with the first-degree murder in 2003 of Jessie Clyde "J.C." Tucker. His trial was delayed in April due to the unavailability of a key witness and he is now scheduled for a five-day jury trial beginning Nov. 27.

Attorney Gary Mitchell, listed as the defense lawyer for both Hadix and Martinez, did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.