Prosecutors charged Angel Rodriguez Alvis last week with first-degree assault, a felony punishable by up to 50 years in prison. He paid $50,000 to bond out of jail Aug. 30, according to court filings.
It's unclear if prosecutors intend to file enhanced charges against Rodriguez Alvis. Deputy County Attorney Chris Turner declined to comment Wednesday.
Kocian said investigators planned to meet with Baylor's family before meeting with prosecutors to determine whether Rodriguez Alvis will be charged with additional crimes.
Baylor's death comes nine days after police were dispatched to the southeast corner of 13th and P streets shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday on a report of a man who was "bleeding from the head and barely breathing," Lincoln Police Officer Brian Gruber said in the probable cause statement for Rodriguez Alvis' arrest, filed last week in Lancaster County Court.
Lincoln Fire and Rescue crews took the man, later identified as Baylor, to Bryan West Campus with a "significant brain bleed" that required immediate emergency surgery, Gruber said in the statement.
A 39-year-old man who witnessed the alleged attack told police that he saw a man wearing a plaid shirt get out of a green station wagon-style vehicle and approach Baylor, punching him in the face a single time, Gruber said.
Two women who had been with the man in plaid — later identified as Rodriguez Alvis — were trying to stop the 22-year-old from punching Baylor, the witness told police.
Baylor fell backward after Rodriguez Alvis punched him and struck his head on the sidewalk. Rodriguez Alvis and his two acquaintances, who were not identified in court records, got back into the station wagon and drove away, Gruber said.
The witness photographed the car — a 1992 Subaru — before it fled north on 13th Street.Â
Less than an hour later, Rodriguez Alvis drove the distinct car back to the alleged crime scene, where police recognized it and followed it, Gruber said.
Police pulled Alvis over near 18th and O streets at about 1:45 a.m. Aug. 27 and took him into custody. He was the only one in the station wagon when police stopped it, Gruber said.
Investigators believe Rodriguez Alvis punched Baylor for purportedly talking to the women the 22-year-old was with that day, according to court filings.
He is scheduled to make his next court appearance later this month.
If pathologists determine Baylor's death is the result of a homicide, it would mark Lincoln's seventh suspected killing of 2023 — a total that does not include the death of a 2-month-old in March and a 46-year-old man last month, both of which remain under investigation.