A teenager will face 400 months — roughly 33 years — in prison for the 2022 killing of a man in downtown Shawnee.
On Wednesday afternoon in Johnson County Court, Fernando Reyes-Lara was sentenced for the murder of Jarod Rogers, 25, on Nov. 30, 2022.
He was handed down the punishment by Judge Christina Dunn Gyllenborg in front of his family and Rogers’ friends and family.
Reyes-Lara is one of five teenagers charged in the killing, stemming from a marijuana deal that was intended to be a robbery.
Reyes was sentenced for three charges
Reyes-Lara’s 400-month sentencing includes: 285 months for second-degree intentional murder and 115 months for two counts of aggravated robbery. He pleaded guilty to the charges in January.
Reyes-Lara and four 17 year olds arranged to meet Rogers to buy marijuana with the intention of robbing him, according to the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Rogers was later found with a gunshot wound to the head in a parking lot behind a business in the 11000 block of Johnson Drive. He died two days later in a hospital.
The victim’s family spoke about his character
During the sentencing, four of Rogers’ friends and family members, some wearing shirts bearing his photo, spoke about the pain and grief they’ve experienced since his death.
“For 25 years, I poured my time, love and life into him — and for $300 you took him away from me,” said Jolene Blohm, Rogers’ mother, to Reyes-Lara.
Yenesis Madrid, Rogers’ best friend, detailed the senselessness of his murder.
“Did (the suspects) think they were tough and cool?” she said. “Is it cool to murder someone in broad daylight, shove them out from the driver’s side of their vehicle, leaving him on the ground for dead, alone in an empty parking lot?”
The judge validated the feeling of pain and loss
After Rogers’ family gave their statements, Judge Gyllenborg addressed the emotions in the room and acknowledged Reyes-Lara’s family, who cried as they listened to him get sentenced.
“There’s lots of pain on both sides of this courtroom — young lives that have been clearly ruined and many lives in this courtroom that have been ruined due to this very tragic and senseless act,” she said.
As Gyllenborg sentenced Reyes-Lara, she expressed hope for something positive to come out of the crime.
“You really need to take all of that in, what you’ve heard here today,” she said. “Hopefully through this process and the punishment that you will endure as a result of these choices, that you are going to come out a changed man and change lives as well.”
Four other suspects face charges
Four of the 17-year-old suspects are now 18 and remain in custody.
One of the teens has been sentenced as a juvenile, and two others have pending juvenile cases.
The fourth 17-year-old, Kyleigh Guzman, now 18, has been charged as an adult for first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated robbery and unlawful use of a communication facility. She has a plea hearing set for April 5 in Johnson County District Court.
Go deeper: Affidavit: Teens set up drug deal before deadly Shawnee shooting
