The Washoe County District Attorney's Office is not pursuing charges related to the arrest of the second suspect in the Zephyr Pointe apartment shooting that left seven people wounded - until more evidence is presented.
The case is now referred back to Reno Police Department for additional evidence.
20-year-old Chemarion Cooks was arrested for seven charges of attempted murder, five charges of battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, and two charges of child abuse using a deadly weapon.
2 News Nevada obtained the no-issue memorandum on Monday morning. The DA's office says it is not pursuing the charges due to, "a lack of sufficient and reliable evidence produced in the investigation by the Reno Police Department (RPD)."
The memo shares multiple reasons why the investigation prevented prosecution.
One of the first reasons was that none of the victims or witnesses could identify any of the suspects in the shooting.
The other suspect, Frank Hewitt was recently convicted for the shooting and is now awaiting his sentencing set for April 23.
The video surveillance on the apartment's property showed two unidentified men. Officers believed those to be Hewitt and Cooks, but since the two were wearing masks and hooded sweatshirts, the office feels they cannot properly identify them.
The two suspects left in a car that the officer who first arrived to the shooting was unable to stop. The car is associated with a home that multiple people live at, including Hewitt and Cooks.
In January 2024, detectives from the Regional Homicide and Gang Unit presented the investigation with the DA's office and said they believed Cooks and Hewitt were the two shooting suspects.
The memo claims that officers knew they needed more evidence to prosecute a case.
In terms of phone data, prosecutors say that only Hewitt's phone was placed near apartments during the time of the shooting. Cooks' phone was placed in a location the memo redacts, but it wasn't near the shooting.
However, the number Hewitt gave to investigators turned out to belong to someone else, so the evidence couldn't be used against Hewitt.
The memo shares that the DA's Office wanted to meet with detectives, but the office says they declined and closed the case on July 24, 2024 until new evidence was presented.
A few months later, a Regional Gang Unit detective got a willing confidential informant to wear a recording device and talk with Hewitt.
Authorities say on November 27, is when detectives received a recorded confession from Hewitt. The memo says that during the confession, Hewitt said he received a call from Cooks, agreed to go the shooting, and then described what happened.
Prosecutors say that Hewitt's call records do not show this call being made by Cooks' phone during that time frame around the shooting. The memo shares that the confession did not give them enough to prosecute Cooks.
The DA's office says after Hewitt was found guilty, detectives reached out to the office to prosecute Cooks. The memo claims that no new evidence was presented from July 2024, to when Hewitt was found guilty on February 9, 2026.
On February 19, 2026, officers wanted to discuss the case with the office. The memo says officers wanted to use Hewitt's statements about Cooks in the recorded confession, but the office says it was, "inadmissible hearsay and could not be relied upon as usable evidence against Cooks."
The memo says that the only way it could be used against Cooks was if Hewitt was willing to testify against him.
The office says it needed new evidence to establish that Cooks was the second shooter or have evidence eliminating the other suspects as the second shooter. There are several redacted names in the memo who could be other possible suspects in the case.
Prosecutors say that officers deemed that Cooks "most likely" committed the crime, but the office stresses it needs the case to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The memo also alleges that officers threatened that if the office did not charge Cooks after the arrest, that they would go to media to publicly blame the DA's office for a lack of prosecution on a serious case.
Cooks has already been released.
FEBRUARY 27, 2026, UPDATE:
The investigation into a birthday party shooting more than two years ago that left seven people wounded has resulted in the arrest of a second suspect.
On October 7, 2023, a party at the Zephyr Pointe Apartments in northwest Reno turned into chaos when two shooters opened fire into an apartment, sending seven people to the hospital, including two 15-year-olds.
Everyone survived.
On February 9, 2026, a jury found Frank Hewitt Jr. guilty of the shooting. He was found guilty of seven charges of attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm. He was also found guilty of two charges of child abuse with a deadly weapon.
Hewitt awaits another trial for a shooting at the Sparks Marina that left four people wounded in June 2024.
Reno police have since arrested 20-year-old Chemarion Cooks for the gang-related shooting.
So, what took so long to arrest the second suspect?
According to 66-page probable cause documents obtained by 2 News Nevada, after the shooting, detectives were looking through surveillance footage near the apartments. Both Cooks and Hewitt were identified and seen wearing face masks around the time of the shooting.
Documents also suggested that video showed both Cooks and Hewitt discharging handguns.
After further investigation, officers found a box of ammunition in a car with Cooks’ identification. Since Cooks was on juvenile probation for battery with the intent to commit robbery, they searched his home.
Detectives say that during the search, they found a Sportsman Warehouse bag with a manual for a Glock handgun and empty ammunition boxes.
On October 9, 2023, officers interviewed Cooks.
They asked him about the manual and ammo boxes, and he said they were his cousin's.
About three weeks later, officers collected DNA from Cooks. Detectives noticed he was visibly shaking during it. When RPD asked why, Cooks allegedly said, “Because I’m uncomfortable doing this.”
Officers continued to press Cooks for more information, but he reiterated that he was innocent and that he was not the shooter.
After that, things go silent in the documents for about a year.
On January 13, 2025, detectives obtained a warrant to look through Cooks’ search history. Some searches allegedly included “gun stores near me” and “can I buy a handgun at 18?”
The documents show nine pages of relevant search results surrounding guns.
During the investigation, Hewitt gave a recorded confession to a person wearing a hidden wire and camera.
In that conversation, officers say Hewitt positively identified Cooks as the second shooter who orchestrated the shooting, and said that he joined without hesitation.
About a year later, Cooks had a recorded conversation with someone in jail. That person’s name is redacted from court documents.
In the call, officers say Cooks asked if federal authorities were investigating him and questioned if recorded calls could be used against him.
Those calls were the final domino to fall that officers say gave them probable cause to arrest Cooks.
In the interview following his arrest, Cooks profusely denied any involvement before using his right to remain silent, where the interview ended.
Cooks is due for a bail hearing on March 3, and Hewitt is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23.
Reno Police says this case is still under investigation.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE (JANUARY 8, 2025):
19-year-old Frank Hewitt Jr. is accused in the Sparks Marina shooting that happened in June that injured four people.
He was also arrested for the Zephyr Pointe Apartment shooting in northwest Reno that injured seven people last year.
He was arrested in both cases in December.
Hewitt is facing 25 total charges between the two cases, 11 of those being attempted murder.
Police believe the two shootings are connected and may be gang related.
However, the Reno Police Department says many of victims hurt in the apartment shooting, are not gang affiliated.
"This was a very difficult case," said Chief Kathryn Nance, Reno Police Department. "Many detectives worked day and night just so we could get to this point."
According to court documents, on October 6, 2023, a RPD officer was dispatched to a report of a party with about 20 people at the apartment complex.
The officer heard gunshots, and saw two people wearing all black clothing and face masks get into a Honda Accord.
The officer tried to follow the suspects, but they drove away.
Seven people were ultimately shot, but no one died.
Investigators later found the suspect's car at another apartment complex, and saw him get into another car there as well.
That car was stopped for a traffic violation a day after the shooting.
Officers arrested Hewitt for resisting arrest and misidentifying himself.
Detectives say while interviewing Hewitt, he contradicted himself multiple times.
Officers then took photos and DNA swabs of Hewitt, but he was not booked on the shooting charges.
When asking Reno Police as to why, they said they have to make sure they have proper evidence.
"What we really want to do is make sure we have the most solid case possible when we present that to the District Attorney's Office to ensure that the person stays in custody and we know there isn't more evidence outstanding," Chief Nance said.
For more than a year, RPD detectives tracked the guns they believe were used during the shooting.
Using cell towers, they say they found that Hewitt's phone was near the location of the shooting.
They also used two of what the documents called, "Confidential Human Services (CHS)" for this investigation.
The first CHS, officers claim, was able to confirm the purchase of the guns; the second met with Hewitt with a wire and was able to get a verbal confession.
Since Hewitt was already arrested by Sparks Police Department earlier in December, Reno Police arrested him on additional charges while he was in custody.
Chief Nance says that both Sparks and Reno Police Departments have been working together to address gang issues in our area.
"Sparks Police Department and Reno Police Department have officers that work together on a crime gun initiative that help us track extend shell casings or fire arms used in incidents and try and develop leads and develop an arrest on that so we have worked really closely with them in our Regional Gang Unit," she said.
Chief Nance says they are still looking into other suspects in the case.
Hewitt's next hearing is scheduled for January 8.
He has a preliminary hearing on February 6th.
