Nevada man pleads guilty to death of two teenage girls

A Nevada man has pleaded guilty to two counts of murder for the deaths of two teenage girls nearly two years ago. Garrett Mason was charged with killing Annie Reed and Kylie Leyva in the 600 block of Nevada’s N. Cedar Street over the Memorial Day Weekend, 2009. Jasper County Judge David Dally was appointed by the state supreme court to hear the case after Vernon County James Bickel granted a change-of-judge request. The case was moved to Joplin for trial and Judge Dally accepted the guilty pleas during a brief hearing Monday afternoon and sentenced Mason to life in prison on both counts. Vernon County prosecutor Lynn M. Ewing III recently filed murder charges against a second Nevada man, Levi Dipman, for the deaths of Reed and Leyva and a pre-hearing conference in that case is scheduled March 31.