A 22-year-old Lincoln man has been arrested and charged for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of a 33-year-old man outside a strip club in the downtown area early Sunday morning, according to Lincoln Police.
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Jahhrasta S. Fletcher was captured on surveillance video in close proximity to the victim, Robert Brannon, in an alley near The Foxy Gentlemen's Club and a nearby liquor store just after midnight Sunday, Lincoln Police Sgt. Kenneth Koziol said in the affidavit for Fletcher's arrest.
The video, depicting the alley near 1801 O St., shows Brannon lunging at Fletcher before Fletcher pulled a gun and shot several rounds toward Brannon, who returned fire as he fell to the ground, Koziol said in the affidavit.
In a news conference announcing Fletcher's arrest Monday afternoon, Lincoln Police Chief Teresa Ewins said he stood over Brannon and fired another round into the Omaha man before fleeing.
Dispatched to the scene at 12:06 a.m., police found Brannon had been shot at least five times, with gunshot wounds to his left eye, chest, left arm and hip, according to the affidavit.
He died at the scene.
By the time police arrived, Fletcher had fled south from the area on foot, Ewins said.
Police found him at about 10:45 a.m. Monday near 35th and Van Dorn streets, where they arrested Fletcher and took him to the Lancaster County Jail, the police chief said.
Prosecutors have charged Fletcher with first-degree murder. Deputy County Attorney Bruce Prenda said Fletcher will make his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
In the alley where Brannon was killed, investigators found a semiautomatic handgun beneath Brannon's body and shell casings from two different handguns, according to the affidavit.
Fletcher was not armed when he was arrested, Ewins said, and investigators have not found the second handgun thought to have been used in the shootout.
The police chief said investigators aren't yet sure what led to the altercation between the two men outside the strip club. And it's unclear if Brannon had ever been inside the establishment, she said.
Surveillance video from the strip club showed Fletcher, who is dating one of the club's performers, had been inside just moments before the shooting, according to the affidavit for his arrest.
At Monday's news conference, police officials called for members of the public who witnessed the shooting — and the lead-up to the violence — to come forward as the department grapples with unanswered questions.
"Based on video, we know that people witnessed the shooting," Assistant Police Chief Jason Stille said. "And they need to come forward and give us the information that they have."
Fletcher is set to appear in court Wednesday on four separate felony charges stemming from August 2021, when investigators serving a warrant on his apartment found two guns, cash and prescription pills, police alleged in the affidavit for that case.
Judge Thomas Zimmerman initially set Fletcher’s percentage bond in that case at $150,000 but later lowered it to $50,000. Fletcher paid $5,000 to be released Aug. 15, 2021, according to court filings.
And Friday — two days before the shooting — Zimmerman in a written order sentenced Fletcher to seven days in jail for driving under the influence in October 2021, but the sentence was suspended until Oct. 7 of this year, according to the order.
Brannon's death marks the 10th killing in Lancaster County this year and the eighth to occur within city limits. There were eight killings in the county in all of 2021 — all of which occurred in Lincoln.
Lincoln's first suspected killing this year didn't come until May 19, when Henry Lee Jones, 57, . ±Ê°ù´Ç²õ±ð³¦³Ü³Ù´Ç°ù²õÌýcharged 32-year-old Derrick Pearson and 31-year-old Briana Jelinek with manslaughter and first-degree assault for their alleged roles in Jones' killing.
Days after Jones' death, 42-year-old Patricio Urias and 26-year-old Zachariah Palomo were shot to death in a duplex near 30th and P streets. In court records, Lincoln Police investigators said the two men shot each other.
Austin Gress, 26, was stabbed to death July 1 amid what police said was "somewhat of a mutual fight" at a gas station near 27th and Dudley streets. Police later arrested and charged Steven A. Alexander with manslaughter, first-degree assault and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony after a three-day manhunt in Lincoln.
Gene Oltman, 78, was found dead July 11 in his home southwest of Lincoln. The sheriff's office ruled his death a homicide a day later after an autopsy confirmed he died of blunt force trauma. No arrests have been made in Oltman's death.
Benjamin J. Case was shot aboard his boat docked at Branched Oak Lake on July 19. Deputies later arrested 22-year-old Taban Rik in Case's killing and, in court records, indicated that a drug robbery appeared to be the motive for the crime.
±Ê´Ç±ô¾±³¦±ðÌýfound 61-year-old Ronald George stabbed to death in a lot near the city's homeless shelter Aug. 31. The investigation into George's death led to a local motel, where police found the remains of 49-year-old Ronnie Patz.
±Ê°ù´Ç²õ±ð³¦³Ü³Ù´Ç°ù²õÌýcharged William T. Wright with second-degree murder in George's death, and police have publicly named him the "main and only" suspect in Patz's death.
And 36-year-old Jasimin Champion, who was from Indiana but lived in Lincoln, was stabbed to death at a north Lincoln mobile home park Sept. 20. Less than 12 hours after the stabbing, police arrested 61-year-old Charles Alexander, who was charged with second-degree murder.
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