Karly Wood didn’t have a penchant for going to late-night parties.
But in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022, Wood went to a party near 34th and Ames Avenues to celebrate a woman’s birthday.
She never returned.
Shortly after 4 a.m., about 30 minutes after Wood arrived at the party held inside a small tan multipurpose building, . When it was over, eight people including Wood were shot. Medics took Wood to the Nebraska Medical Center, where she died. She was the only person killed in the shooting.
Douglas County Deputy Attorney Kevin Ryan told a jury of 10 women, four men and two alternates that DNA found on a gun overwhelmingly points to Imhotep Davis’ involvement in Wood’s death during opening arguments in Davis’ trial on Tuesday.
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As he sat motionless and dressed in a gray suit and light green tie, Davis, 26, listened as Ryan, along with fellow Deputy County Attorney Amy Jacobsen, made their case for the jury to convict Davis of second-degree murder in connection with Wood’s death. Davis also faces various firearms charges related to the incident including first-degree assault in connection to another person being injured in the shooting.
As Douglas County District Court Judge W. Russell Bowie monitored the proceedings, Ryan described Wood as having been shot eight times — three times in her stomach, four times in a side of her body and once in the lower leg. An autopsy, Ryan said, found nearly all the individual bullets could have been fatal to Wood.
While a chaotic scene unfolded at the medical center in midtown Omaha with gunshot victims arriving for treatment, Ryan said another person wearing designer-style ripped jeans and a shiny red and maroon jacket with an artistic graphic on the back arrived at Immanuel Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound in north-central Omaha.
Ryan said that person was Davis. Ryan added Davis and another person walked into the hospital “nonchalantly†from a black Ford F-250 pickup truck.
Ryan said footage from security cameras located at nearby Skinner Elementary School showed a person, who matched the designer clothing Davis was alleged to have been wearing that night, as part of a group of people approaching the Ames Avenue building shortly before the shooting took place.
“It’s clear that it’s him,†Ryan told the jury, saying the security camera footage was captured in a well-lit parking lot. Ryan added the footage also showed the F-250 along with a Chevrolet Malibu sedan and a Chrysler 300 sedan allegedly driven by others involved with the shooting.
Ryan argued investigators’ DNA and ballistics tests conducted on bullet casings and a gun found in the Malibu matched with the gun Davis allegedly handled as depicted in security camera footage. Ryan further argued bullets taken from Wood’s body matched those discharged from that gun.
Davis’ attorney, Joe Naatz, sought to paint a picture where the prosecution didn’t have definitive proof Davis was directly involved with Wood’s death. Naatz pointed to people at the party who Ryan said either weren’t found by Omaha police investigators or didn’t want to testify on behalf of the prosecution.
Naatz argued the law enforcement investigation was rushed, and investigators overlooked “key pieces of information†and “failed to explore potential leads.â€
Naatz said prosecutors’ arguments against Davis amount to nothing more than a theory.
“By the end of this trial, I believe you’ll see the story is full of gaps, contradictions and uncertainties,†Naatz said.
Davis’ trial is scheduled to last 10 days. He is the third person to appear in court in connection with the shooting.
Two other people, 27-year-old Kiwan Dampeer and 30-year-old Tyvel Lampkin-Davis, have been found guilty and sentenced for their respective roles in the shooting.
Lampkin-Davis pleaded no contest to possessing a firearm on school grounds and accessory to a felony last year. He admitted to taking a gun from Davis after the shooting and keeping it in his car, and he was .
Dampeer was on four firearm charges, including discharging a firearm at an occupied building. He shot twice into the party from a nearby parking lot, according to court records.
The shots fired by Dampeer are not believed to have hit anyone, and his motive for doing so was not made clear at trial. He was sentenced in March to 20 to 27 years in prison and is appealing his conviction.
The Ames Avenue building where Wood was killed , a therapeutic group home for girls ages 13 to 19. The home includes a pink bedroom Wood’s mother, Amber Wood, has dubbed “Karly’s Room.â€
The room is adorned with decals of pink flower petals falling from the ceiling and stylized self-portrait of Karly as a fairy. The portrait contains one phrase: “Never let anyone dull your sparkle.â€