LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Clearlake man formally entered no contest pleas on Monday to charges connected to a June shooting that killed a young child and wounded five others.

Twenty-nine-year-old Kevin Ray Stone pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit robbery, accessory to murder and possession of a .22-caliber rifle by a prohibited person before Judge Stephen Hedstrom at the Monday court appearance.

At sentencing – due to take place early next year – Stone will face up to 10 years and four months in prison, and a possible fine of about $64,000, according to statements in court on Monday.

Stone – along with Clearlake Oaks residents Paul William Braden, 21, of and Orlando Joseph Lopez, 23 – originally was charged with murder, mayhem, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and several special allegations for the June 18 shooting that killed 4-year-old Skyler Rapp and also wounded the child’s mother, Desiree Kirby, her boyfriend, Ross Sparks and his brother, Andrew Sparks; and friends Ian Griffith and Joseph Armijo.

District Attorney Don Anderson said on Monday that, after five months of intense investigation by his investigators and the Clearlake Police Department, the decision was made to allow Stone to enter pleas to the lesser charges.

During an eight-day preliminary hearing that concluded in October, the court heard an interview police conducted with Stone in which he insisted that he had only driven Braden and Stone to the scene of the shooting after they had called him.

Anderson said the decision to accept Stone’s guilty plea – which he noted wasn’t an easy one – was made on Nov. 16 during a meeting in which he discussed the matter with Skyler Rapp’s parents, Clearlake Police and the District Attorney’s Office’s Victim-Witness Division.

After a complete discussion of the case’s facts and applicable law, Anderson said everyone at that Nov. 16 meeting agreed that the plea agreement was “a just resolution” regarding Stone’s involvement in the crime.

Based on the investigation of the shooting, Anderson told the court that on June 18 Braden and Lopez planned an assault on Ross Sparks and his family, and contacted Stone for a ride, telling him that they wanted to do an armed robbery in order to steal drugs from the residence of Curtis Eeds, who lived next door to Sparks and Kirby.

Stone – convicted in July 2010 of assault with a deadly weapon and therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm – is alleged to have gotten a .22-caliber rifle from his apartment before driving Braden and Lopez to a location near Eeds’ residence, where they parked, Anderson said.

From there, Stone, along with Braden and Lopez – both armed with shotguns – walked into Eeds’ backyard, Anderson said.

Stone was going to go into the back door of Eeds’ home, but the other two men kept walking to the fence that separated Eeds’ home from Sparks’. Anderson alleged that Braden and Lopez then opened fire into a crowd of people, killing the child and wounding five adults.

Stone, who Anderson said was unaware of Braden and Lopez’s intentions, then left the scene with them and went back to the vehicle that he had borrowed from his girlfriend’s cousin, driving about two blocks before crashing.

The three then allegedly hid the firearms in nearby brush before fleeing in separate directions, Anderson said.

Hedstrom ordered that Stone return at 3 p.m. Feb. 28 for a continuation of the hearing, at which time he will schedule the sentencing. He also ordered that Stone will be held on no bail going forward.

Stone had several other misdemeanor and probation violation cases pending that Anderson said he intended to dismiss in the interest of justice.

Anderson said the investigation into Braden’s and Lopez’s actions on the night of June 18 is continuing.

Braden and Lopez are due for a joint trial – with separate juries – that will begin Jan. 11, 2012, as Lake County News has reported.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .