A teenager has pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated robbery for his involvement in the murder of a Shawnee man in 2022.
On Feb. 28 in Johnson County District Court, Fernando Gonzalez-Prado, 19, pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder and aggravated robbery that inflicts bodily harm in the shooting death of Jarod Rogers, as well as an additional count of aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.
Judge Christina Dunn Gyllenborg is presiding over the case.
Gonzalez-Prado was one of five teenagers charged in Rogers’s killing on Nov. 30, 2022, in downtown Shawnee, during what prosecutors described as a drug deal that turned deadly.
Gonzalez-Prado allegedly had a gun at drug deal
Gonzalez-Prado and four other people, all between 17 and 18 years old at the time, arranged to meet Rogers the week after Thanksgiving in 2022 in order to buy marijuana with the intention of robbing him, according to court documents.
To execute the drug deal, the teens met with Rogers at an agreed-upon location in downtown Shawnee.
During the meeting, Gonzalez-Prado, identified as “F. G-P” in a court affidavit, got out of a vehicle with “a big gun,” along with another suspect, Fernando Reyes-Lara, and told the other three they’d “take care” of the payment, the affidavit stated.
Later, Rogers was found with a gunshot wound to the head in a parking lot behind a strip of businesses in the 11000 block of Johnson Drive in downtown Shawnee.
He was rushed to Overland Park Regional Medical Center in critical condition, where he died two days later.
Four other suspects have been charged and sentenced
The teens charged and sentenced include:
- Roger Hernandez, sentenced in June 2024 to 147 months in prison for second-degree murder and aggravated robbery. The sentences are running concurrently.
- Kyleigh Guzman, sentenced in August to 147 months for second-degree murder and aggravated robbery. The sentences are running concurrently.
- Fernando Reyes-Lara, sentenced in March 2024 to 400 months in prison, including 285 months for second-degree murder and 115 months for aggravated robbery. The sentences are running consecutively.
- Sabrina Clark, sentenced to the Johnson County Juvenile Correctional Facility until she turns 22-1/2 years old for two counts of aggravated robbery.
Rogers’ mother has spoken about her grief
During Reyes-Lara’s sentencing, Jolene Blohm, Rogers’ mother, spoke about the anger she still has over her son’s murder.
“For 25 years, I poured my time, love and life into him — and for $300 you took him away from me,” she said in court.
She also spoke about how deeply Rogers’s family misses him.
“Now, his little brother won’t have Jarod to be the best man in his wedding. His little sister will grow up without her oldest brother to protect her. His future nieces and nephews will never get to meet him,” she said. “My son was not perfect by any means, but he didn’t deserve to die.”
What’s next
Gonzalez-Prado will be sentenced in Johnson County District Court at 11 a.m. on May 2.
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