Ashland man sentenced to 120 years for fatal shooting in Omaha

Douglas County District Court Judge J. Russell Derr sentenced Luis Hernandez-Melendez to 60 to 80 years in prison for first-degree murder, 30 to 40 years for first-degree assault and 20 to 30 years for use of a firearm to commit murder. to commit a crime in connection with the shooting. The murder and assault charges will be served concurrently or concurrently, while the firearms charges will be served consecutively.

According to court records, police were called to the Citadel Apartments on the evening of July 23, 2023, for reports of two men shot in the head in a Mazda sedan.

Luis Romero-Rodriguez, 28, was found in the backseat of the Mazda and was pronounced dead at the scene. Jose Lapop-Flores, 24, who was behind the wheel, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Hernandez-Melendez was initially charged with first-degree murder for the killing of Romero-Rodriguez, but the charge was reduced to second-degree murder as part of a plea deal. Prosecutors also dropped an additional count of using a firearm to commit a crime.

Hernandez-Melendez faced a maximum sentence of life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 26 years. With good behavior, he could be eligible for parole after 40 years, Derr said.

Prosecutor Ann Miller said during sentencing Tuesday that Lapop-Flores was taken to Guatemala by his family while he was still in life-threatening condition. He had no brain activity at the time and the law firm can no longer contact his family, she said.

Miller argued that the shooting appeared to be motivated by the two victims promising Hernandez-Melendez a small amount of cocaine, which they did not give him.

“This was all less than a dime worth of bag of cocaine,” she said.

Ramiro-Rodriguez’s sister Emily Melissa Ramiro-Rodriguez said in Spanish through an interpreter that the loss of her brother tore her family apart and left a son without a father.

Hernandez-Melendez’s public defender Tamara Mosby argued that he had no prior criminal record, no local family support and three children in Guatemala whom he supported financially. Hernandez-Melendez had accepted responsibility for what happened and admitted he had problems with drugs and alcohol, which played a role in the shooting, Mosby said.

Surveillance footage during the shooting showed three vehicles – a white Ford pickup, the white Mazda sedan and a gray SUV – driving “in a parade with each other” before all three cars rear-ended the parking lot of the Citadel Apartments rode. to court documents.

The video captured a man in a red shirt near the Mazda before two gunshots rang out. According to court documents, the gray SUV and white truck both fled the scene after shots were fired.

Alvin Melendez, Hernandez-Melendez’s cousin, was located on July 25 and agreed to be interviewed by detectives. He said that on the day of the murder, he received a call from Hernandez-Melendez asking for a ride.

When Melendez arrived at a gas station near 72nd and Grover Streets to pick up his uncle, he noticed several people there: Romero-Rodriguez and Lapop-Flores, the two shooting victims; Hernandez-Melendez and Hernandez-Melendez’s wife, Valeria Vasquez; and three other associates of Hernandez-Melendez.

Melendez said Hernandez-Melendez got into the pickup and drove to the Citadel Apartments, with Romero-Rodriguez and Lapop-Flores following behind him in the white Mazda. Vasquez and two others followed in the gray SUV.

According to Melendez, Hernandez-Melendez got out of the pickup truck after they arrived at the apartment complex and shot the white Mazda twice. They then fled the scene and Hernandez-Melendez and Vasquez returned to their home in Ashland.

After initially denying being present at a shooting, Vasquez later revised her story and said she saw her husband shoot the victims while they were in their car.

Vasquez initially faced an accessory charge in connection with the shooting, but she instead pleaded no contest to obstructing a peace officer and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation.

Melendez pleaded guilty to an additional charge in exchange for the tampering of evidence charge being dropped. His sentencing was also scheduled for Tuesday.