Execution date set for cabbie killer

Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer on Friday affirmed a jury's decision to impose the death penalty on Shawn Harte of Fallon.

She set an execution date for sometime the week of Aug. 16, but the sentence triggers an automatic review of the case by the Nevada Supreme Court.

That and other appeals are expected to take at least several years to resolve.

The jury gave Harte the death penalty in March after convicting him of first-degree murder in the October 1997 shooting death of John Castro Jr., a 48-year-old father of two.

Steinheimer on Friday also formally sentenced two accomplices convicted of first-degree murder in Castro's death.

The judge affirmed the jury's decision to sentence Weston Sirex, 26, of Reno, and Latisha Babb, 20, of Fallon, to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Castro was shot and left to die after driving Harte and Sirex from southeast Reno to Cold Springs north of Reno. Babb followed them in the getaway vehicle.

After the shooting, the three went to a fast-food restaurant and then to Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Reno, where they played carnival games, prosecutors said.

Harte later admitted the shooting was "as easy as taking out the trash," prosecutors said.

The three told authorities that they were short on cash and originally planned to rob a convenience store or motel. Castro had only $89 on him at the time.

Sirex was a dispatcher and driver for a competing cab company.

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