‘Smiling shooter’ in murder spree at Sonic drive-in pleads guilty and asks for death penalty, prosecutor says

‘He stated, basically, in my words, that he wants to be executed,’ says County Attorney Lee Polikov

Roberto Silva has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder (Sarpy County Jail)

A suspect accused of going on a deadly shooting spree at a Sonic drive-in in Nebraska has pleaded guilty and wishes to be executed, prosecutors say.

Roberto Silva, 24, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and several other crimes in November 2020, after he allegedly opened fire at a Sonic restaurant in Bellevue, killing two employees and wounding two others.

On Monday, Mr Silva suddenly changed his plea to guilty to all 15 charges, according to the Sarpy County Attorney’s Office. In a letter to the prosecutors, he also asked to be put to death.

“He stated, basically, in my words, that he wants to be executed,” County Attorney Lee Polikov told the Omaha World-Herald.

Mr Polikov has not released the letter because prosecutors have not yet submitted it as evidence. But one line from it was revealed in court on Monday.

“It is my understanding that you don’t have a motive for my actions in [the Sonic shooting case],” Mr Silva wrote, according to prosecutors. “My intention and motive was to kill the witnesses involved in [the Sonic identity theft case] to conceal the commission of that crime.”

A week before the shooting, Mr Silva had used another customer’s Sonic app to order $57 worth of food, including 11 burgers and 12 corndogs. He was charged with identity theft over the incident.

According to the letter, Mr Silva’s desperation to cover up that crime is what led him back to the Sonic. The assault killed Nathan Pastrana, 22, and Ryan Helbert, 28. Zoey Lujan, then 18, and Kenneth Gerner, then 25, were hospitalized.

Mr Polikov has said he intends to pursue the death penalty for Mr Silva, who wore an eery smile in his mugshot after his arrest. This is the first case in the prosecutor’s more than 20-year career in which he has sought an execution.

“Capital punishment is the law, and my job is to enforce the law,” Mr Polikov told the World-Herald. “It has everything to do with a balance of justice. How do I get justice for the state and the victims?”

Christopher Lathrop, the public defender who is representing Mr Silva, told The Independent he could not comment on the case.