A 21-year-old Lincoln man was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison Tuesday in connection to a shooting at a park in the Capitol Beach neighborhood two years ago.
Lorenzo Garcia pleaded no contest to second-degree assault and attempted robbery.
"My client made a poor decision when he took a gun from his family member's house. He further made a terrible decision when he decided to take that gun to the events that took place that brought us here today," said his attorney, Trevin Preble.
In an affidavit for Garcia's arrest, an investigator with the Lincoln Police Department said neighbors reported hearing pops in the area of Lakeview Park at Northwest 20th and West Q streets at about 9 p.m. on Oct. 25, 2019.
Police found shell casings and a small amount of blood in the street.
While officers were there, the 37-year-old victim returned with his mother. He told them he had been involved in a fight and that he'd taken a gun from the man with whom he'd fought.
He said he had gone to the park to meet a woman he'd met on the online app Snapchat. As he was talking to her, he heard a male voice tell him to empty his pockets. He turned around and saw a man with a gun, wearing a bandanna over his face.
As the men struggled over the gun, the victim, Travis Warnsing, was shot in the stomach.Ìý
Preble said Garcia had no criminal record before that and argued for probation.Ìý
The gun belonged to a relative of Garcia's.
Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Amy Goodro asked for incarceration for Garcia, saying he had brought a gun to a planned robbery, then shot the victim when he fought back.Ìý
"Overall, this is among the most serious crimes," Lancaster County District Judge Robert Otte told Garcia, before sentencing him to the prison time and ordering him to pay $3,287 in restitution to the victim.