After a two-week jury trial, an 18-year-old Omaha man was found guilty of first-degree murder and three other felonies for the 2021 killing of 14-year-old Isabella Santiago.
A Douglas County jury returned the guilty verdicts against Christian Hernandez-Polanco on Friday. He was found guilty of first-degree murder, discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle and two counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony.
Santiago, who was a freshman at Omaha South High School at the time of her death, was in the backseat of a Ford Focus with her stepbrother and another teen on the evening of Dec. 22, 2021, when Hernandez fired 10 shots into their vehicle. Santiago was struck once, the bullet piercing her heart and lung. She died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
According to prior testimony from detectives, Hernandez-Polanco was in a BMW with four other teens on the night of the shooting. Samuel Lopez, the alleged driver, is the only other person in the BMW to be charged in relation to the killing. He is awaiting trial on charges of terroristic threats and being an accessory to first-degree murder.
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Lopez, now 18, and Hernandez-Polanco were both 16 at the time of the killing.
Prosecutors previously said the shooting stemmed from a feud between two rival gangs — the “Get Money Squad,†or GMS, which Hernandez-Polanco was allegedly involved in, and Mafios Locos, which Santiago’s stepbrother said he was associated with. Santiago is not believed to have been associated with either group.
Santiago’s stepbrother later told police the group had been repeatedly driving past a home near 39th and R Streets where GMS members hung out while honking and playing loud Christmas music in order to instigate a fight.
After the group in the Ford Focus drove past the home twice while swerving and honking, according to court documents, Hernandez-Polanco told Lopez to follow them. Lopez obliged, and they began to follow the Ford Focus eastbound on Q Street.
As Lopez pulled up alongside the Ford Focus, according to court documents, he told Hernandez-Polanco how to roll down the back passenger seat window, which was malfunctioning. Hernandez-Polanco rolled down the window and shot 10 times at the Ford Focus.
Both occupants of the Ford Focus initially denied knowing the shooter, but voluntarily returned to Omaha Police Headquarters two days after the shooting to identify Hernandez-Polanco. According to testimony at the preliminary hearing, two other teens in the car with Hernandez-Polanco also identified him as the shooter.
In 2022, attorneys for Hernandez-Polanco filed to have his case transferred to juvenile court, arguing that he was highly amenable to treatment. The transfer motion was denied — a decision that was later affirmed by the Nebraska Court of Appeals.
A sentencing date has not been set for Hernandez-Polanco.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the prison term that Hernandez-Polanco will face at sentencing.Â