An Omaha teen initially charged with first-degree murder for killing a man by repeatedly running him over with a car last year was found guilty of a reduced charge of manslaughter earlier this week.
Juan Velasquez, 18, pleaded no contest Monday and was found guilty of manslaughter and use of a weapon to commit a felony in the August 2023 death of 43-year-old Juan Carlos Tobar-Abarca. Velasquez, who was 17 at the time of the killing, will face a minimum of one year and a maximum of 70 years in prison when sentenced in August.
Court documents provided previously unreported details about the killing and potential motives. According to a statement of facts written by prosecutors, Tobar-Abarca was found dead outside the Bel Apartments at 12107 Arbor St. shortly after 3 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2023. He had multiple injuries consistent with being hit and dragged by a vehicle.
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Surveillance video at the apartment complex showed the assault occurred about three hours before Tobar-Abarca’s body was found. According to prosecutors, the video showed Velasquez and Tobar-Abarca leave the complex at 12:18 a.m. Velasquez was in possession of the keys to Tobar-Abarca’s vehicle, a 2012 Kia Sportage.
The video showed Velasquez enter the driver’s seat and quickly reverse as Tobar-Abarca got in front of the vehicle. Velasquez accelerated, hitting Tobar-Abarca and dragging him up a grass embankment, leaving him lying on the ground in an adjacent parking lot.
Velasquez drove into the adjacent lot, struck a parked vehicle, and then struck and dragged Tobar-Abarca once more. After making multiple trips back into the apartment, Velasquez fled from the area in Tobar-Abarca’s vehicle. He was arrested near Lake Manawa shortly after the killing.
Tobar-Abarca is believed to have been alive for about thirty minutes after he was hit the second time, but he was dead when a sanitation worker noticed his body in the embankment nearly three hours later, according to court documents.
According to an order from Douglas County District Court Judge Molly Keane, Velasquez told investigators different motivations for the killing: He first said it was an accident but later said he and Tobar-Abarca got into a physical altercation in the apartment before the killing. Blood splatter and a large blood smear were found on the walls inside the apartment, according to Keane’s order.
Defense attorneys for Velasquez motioned to have the case transferred to Juvenile Court, citing his complete lack of criminal history and status as a “model kid†while incarcerated at the Douglas County Youth Center. A psychiatrist testified Velasquez displayed symptoms of severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and he scored in the low-risk categories for most recidivism indicators.
According to defense attorneys, Velasquez immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala alone in order to help his family monetarily. Court documents show Velasquez has a “first or second grade education,†and he does not speak English.
Keane rejected the motion to transfer the case to Juvenile Court, largely because Velasquez’s age would mean he would be under the Juvenile Court’s jurisdiction for less than a year.
Velasquez is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 28.