Suspect arrested in Hailey Nieto murder; second suspect accused of destroying evidence
RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Thirty-nine-year-old Todd Tonnochy was taken into custody and charged with the murder of 18-year-old Hailey Nieto. Nieto was the mother of two and her body was found just over a week ago near Cold Springs.
Tonnochy fled Reno and was arrested in Midland, Texas, by U.S. Marshals and the Midland County Sheriff’s Office.
Court documents obtained by KOLO 8 News Now say Tonnochy was not acting alone. A second person is accused of altering or destroying evidence related to Nieto’s murder on March 21st inside the Siegal Suites in Downtown Reno.
In the criminal complaint, the State of Nevada claims Tonnochy shot Nieto at the hotel and the two men dismembered her body in an attempt to ‘conceal and destroy evidence of the murder’. Tonnochy and the second suspect transported her body in a duffle bag, leaving the bag near the dirt extension of North Virginia Street between Red Rock Road and White Lake Parkway.
On March 23, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office deputies found Nieto’s body near the dirt extension and conducted a death investigation with WCSO detectives, Search and Rescue, the HASTY Team, RAVEN Drone Unit and Incident Management Team.
Tonnochy has an extensive criminal history. In 2020, he was charged as a habitual criminal and is a convicted felon.
Tonnochy is being held at the Midland County Detention Center with no bond and awaits extradition.
On March 30th , the Nieto Family released the following statement.
“Hailey was a daughter, mother, granddaughter, great granddaughter, cousin, niece and aunt. She loved her two baby girls and loved taking them to the park to see the ducks and go on the swings. She was a Reno Native, born and raised here. She was studying to be a mortician and wanted to work at Mountain View Mortuary someday. It’s very sad that she ended up there in a different way. She loved doing art, makeup, fashion, loved music, camping, Hawaii and Lake Tahoe in the summer. She was so empathetic, she would occasionally go to cemeteries, read about people’s stories and show her respect. She leaves behind a two-year-old and nine-month-old, Luna & Mila.”
“Even though this awful thing happened to us I’m not letting it define how I feel about the biggest little city. The people who did this are not from here. I want to personally thank everyone that has shown us support in this community during this difficult time. From delivering food to our house, to donating to our go fund me, sharing our go fund me, comments, posts, texts and calls and supporting us at her viewing. Complete strangers to people in my Realtor community. We love you all.” ❤️❤️❤️❤️#justiceforhailey
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