A 31-year-old Lincoln man was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for shooting his 18-year-old neighbor to death last year on his doorstep in a dispute that started over an unleashed dog.
"This was, by all accounts I think, a senseless tragedy and loss of life of this young man," Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong told Arman Rejai as Julian Martinez's friends and family watched from the rows behind.Â
Rejai had faced a minimum of 20 years in prison for the second-degree murder of Martinez on Jan. 21, 2023.
He pleaded no contest.
Rejai
Rejai, who submitted a private letter to the judge as did his public defender, spoke briefly Tuesday, saying he was very sorry for the loss of Martinez due to his actions.
"I wasn't trying to start anything. At the time, I was very afraid, and I believed that I was acting in self defense," he said.
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Rejai said Martinez's family is in his prayers, and he prays for forgiveness.
Moments earlier, when given a chance to speak, Erica Martinez stood near the front of the courtroom, faced Rejai and said she wanted him to know he didn't just affect one person.Â
"You affected all of our lives," she said. "My son was my No. 1. He was my knight in shining armor. He was our protector for me and the girls, his sisters."Â
Erica Martinez said this is something she never thought she would go through.
"Something you would see on TV. Something you would read in the papers. But not as something that would happen to you and your family," she said.Â
Now, there's an empty void in their lives that they're never going to get back.
Julian Anthony Martinez
"What comes comes. And you need to serve what you need to serve. What you did was wrong," Erica Martinez told Rejai. "This is something you're going to have to live with the rest of your life, and I will have to live with this for the rest of my life, also. I just want you to realize that."
According to the lead Lincoln police investigator, Rejai was taking his dog on a walk Jan. 21, 2023, near South 17th Street and Euclid Avenue when he got into an argument with his next-door neighbors about their dog being off the leash in their backyard.
Police said Rejai went inside but could hear them outside yelling, wanting him to fight. He came out and shot them with pepper spray, went back inside, locked the deadbolt and grabbed his Glock 26.
Martinez was at his door, pounding on it, when Rejai opened his door and shot Martinez once before shutting and locking his door again and calling 911.
Martinez's roommates did CPR to try to save him, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
On Tuesday, Strong said she was sorry for Martinez's family's loss and regretted that she could do nothing to bring him back to them or ease their suffering.
She said that after reviewing everything in the case, she kept coming back to one thing: That all of this tragedy was caused by Rejai's actions.
"Mr. Martinez did nothing wrong that day," the judge said.
She said it was Rejai who began a disagreement about having a dog on a leash and started an argument with the teenagers next door, yelling obscenities at them.Â
It was Rejai who went into his house and came back out, used pepper spray on them, then ran back to his house and got his gun.
When he heard knocking and pounding on his door, he looked out and saw Martinez. The knocking stopped after a couple of minutes, but Rejai didn't let it end there, Strong said.
"It was you that for some reason decided to open the door and shoot and kill this unarmed 18-year-old young man," she said.
Strong said everyone has a right to self-defense and to own and carry firearms, but this was not a case of self-defense.
She said Rejai had an arsenal of firearms in his house and a history of not getting along with his neighbors, which included threatening to burn down one couple's home and kill them, shooting guns out his front window when he lived in Eagle and yelling obscenities at a young girl for playing in his yard on a swing set.
Strong said there even was an anonymous report that he had threatened to kill someone in jail.
"All of these things lead me to believe that you are a violent, dangerous person who should not be in the community," she said, announcing the life sentence.
After the judge walked out, Martinez's family and friends hugged. Some cried.
Martinez had attended Lincoln Public Schools and worked at the Knolls Retirement Center, where he found his passion in life in helping and working with the elderly, according to his obituary.
Remembering Lincoln's homicide victims of 2023
1. Julian A. Martinez
Police found 18-year-old Julian Martinez with one gunshot wound to his chest near 19th Street and Euclid Avenue on Jan. 21 after an argument over with a neighbor over their pet dogs devolved into a fatal shooting, according to authorities.
Prosecutors charged Martinez’s neighbor, 29-year-old Armon Rejai, with first-degree murder in the teen’s death.
, Martinez’s family said he cherished his sisters and nephews, who he loved to play video games and roughhouse with. He shared his life and love with his girlfriend and his best friend, along with numerous cousins and relatives, his family said.
2. Rudy Requejo Jr.
Rudy Requejo Jr., who was 22 months old, died at an Omaha hospital March 17 after weeks of suspected abuse and neglect, police investigators alleged in court filings.
Prosecutors charged the boy’s mother, 30-year-old Brittany Cook, and her boyfriend, 32-year-old Joshua Tackett, with child abuse resulting in the child’s death.
His family remembered Requejo Jr.’s infectious joy that, at times, brought previously feuding family members together.Â
“Junior had a smile that was like gravity,†his aunt said.
3. Ronald Gonzalez Rivas
Ronald E. Gonzalez-Rivas, 45, was one of two maintenance employees at The Lodge Apartments who were run over and killed at the south Lincoln complex on March 27.
A resident of the apartment complex, 27-year-old Taylor Bradley, was charged with six felonies for her alleged role in the brazen attack, including a first-degree murder charge in Gonzalez-Rivas’ death, according to court records.
In , his wife of 11 years, Georgina Molina, said she was deeply saddened by his death and asked for prayers for their family. Gonzalez-Rivas left behind two children, ages 19 and 26.
4. Christopher Karmazin
A longtime maintenance employee at The Lodge Apartments in south Lincoln, Christopher J. Karmazin was one of two men killed there March 27 when he and a colleague were run over and killed by a 27-year-old resident, police alleged.
Prosecutors charged Taylor Bradley with six felonies for her alleged role in the hit-and-run attack. She was charged with first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony in Karmazin’s death.
, family said the Lincoln man left behind three children and a loving wife.
"Chris loved spending time with his friends playing board games and was an avid animal lover," a relative, Garrett Karmazin, said in a post pinned to the fundraiser. “He enjoyed spending time outdoors and working with his hands. His greatest joy was being a father."
5. Damien Brave
Damien I. Brave, an 18-year-old Lincoln man, died in the early morning hours of April 1 after he was shot four times at a house party the night before near 27th and Fair streets.
Police in Michigan later arrested 17-year-old Kashaun M. McCree for his alleged role in Brave's death, thought to have been the result of a robbery gone wrong. Prosecutors charged McCree, who police say fled to Detroit after the shooting, with first-degree murder.
Brave's close friend and family, who , remembered him as a goofy, fun-loving kid whose beaming smile demanded that others join in.
"If you felt like crap or you felt down, and you got one of his hugs, you just felt like you were safe," his mother, Heidi Brave, said. "I'm the mom. I should have made him feel safe. But the way he just hugged you, it just made you feel like you were something special."
6. Mark Kruger
Mark Kruger, 59, died May 7 after he was stabbed amid an argument at a family gathering that evening near 63rd Street and Baldwin Avenue.
Police arrested Kruger's son, Joseph Kruger, at the scene. The 40-year-old was later charged with first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony for his alleged role in his dad's death.
In , Mark Kruger's family described the Lincoln man as a loving father, grandfather, brother and uncle who loved music, concert-going and riding his Harley.
"... He loved to make the world smile," Kruger's family wrote. "He loved camping, fishing and going out on the boat. Mark always, always gave compliments and encouragement to all and he would give the shirt off his back for anyone."
The family also to help pay for his funeral.
7. Zachary Svoboda
Lincoln Police found Zachary Svoboda dead at his home near the North 50th and Greenwood streets on Aug. 23, 2023.
An autopsy determined the cause of death to be intoxication from a combination of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Investigators have identified physical and digital evidence, along with witness statements, that show Svoboda's death was intentional.
Police have alleged Amanda Wright devised and carried out a plan to kill Svoboda.
She is currently being held at the Lancaster County jail.Â
8. James Baylor
James Baylor, who often went by Jim or Jimbo but whose legal first name was Robert, died at a Lincoln hospital Sept. 5, nine days after he suffered a head injury in an apparently random assault near 13th and P streets Aug. 27.
Police of Lincoln on suspicion of first-degree assault in the hours after the attack. Prosecutors later enhanced the charges filed against Rodriguez Alvis, charging him with manslaughter following Baylor's death.
Baylor's friends and family remembered the 55-year-old as "a dear, kind, tender soul that touched a lot of lives."
"He was always interested in other people and what they were doing and always enthusiastic about them," said his brother, John Baylor. "And it was completely authentic."
9. Larry Cole
Larry Cole, 76, was found in his residence on the 1100 block of New Hampshire Street on Dec. 19. Officers went to the home on a welfare check, which was called in by one of Cole's family members.
Police received no answer when they knocked and smelled natural gas, which led them to call Lincoln Fire and Rescue who turned off the gas.
When the air cleared, police went in and found Cole dead inside, as well as another man.
Cole's death later was ruled a homicide.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LJSpilger
Lori Pilger
Courts reporter
