Two arrested in shooting death

Family members of a slain Omaha man learned of arrests made in the case Friday morning just before another relative gave birth to a baby boy.

LaDonna Gaines, whose nephew Justin Gaines, 20, was shot and killed Sept. 19 near 44th Street and Curtis Avenue, said there was no mix of emotions about the news of arrests.

Family members were elated.

Omaha police announced the arrests of 17-year-old Trevelle J. Taylor, 3315 Whitmore St., and 20-year-old Joshua W. Nolan, 2109 Drake Court, No. 302.

Taylor was arrested on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony. He is being held at the Douglas County Youth Center. Nolan was booked on suspicion of the same charges at the Douglas County Jail, where he was being held in connection with a separate shooting.

The news of arrests in her nephew's slaying came “the same day a new life came into the world,” LaDonna Gaines said. A sister of LaDonna's gave birth Friday.

The newborn is named for two slaying victims: Justin and one of LaDonna's brothers who was slain in February in Phoenix.

LaDonna Gaines said family members had heard Taylor and Nolan mentioned after the shooting. She thought her nephew had fought with the two several years ago but wasn't sure what it was over.

Justin Gaines had just gotten out of jail after serving six months for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Four days later, he was dead.

“I don't hate the guys who did this. I hope God has mercy on their souls,” LaDonna Gaines said. “They have to live with this every day. Their families will have to suffer just like my family. I have forgiven them. I pray about it all the time.”

Court documents released Friday detail how a Saturday afternoon drive in a stolen car by three men searching for marijuana ended with Justin Gaines being shot to death.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the arrest warrant for Taylor:

On Sept. 19, Taylor and Nolan showed up at another man's home with a stolen car and told the acquaintance to drive them around. The three drove to a convenience store and then to the area of 45th Street and Curtis Avenue where Taylor, known to the acquaintance as “Fresh,” said they could get some pot.

The acquaintance parked at the corner of 45th and Vernon Streets where Taylor and then Nolan walked away. Five to 10 minutes later, he said he heard a number of shots coming from the area where Taylor and Nolan had gone. He said it sounded like the shots came from two guns.

When the shots stopped, Nolan came running back from 45th Street, jumped in the car and yelled “Go, go, go!”

Nolan was on the phone when he got back in the car, apparently talking to Taylor about where Taylor was and whether he needed to be picked up.

The man headed east and, when they saw a police cruiser at 40th Street, Nolan told the driver to let him out and he ran east on Redick Avenue.

At 4461 Curtis Ave., officers found Gaines slumped out of the driver's door of a car. Gaines had been talking to a female friend when two men walked up behind the car and fired at least 16 shots.

The female friend ran to a nearby house when the shooting started. When she came out of the house, Gaines was yelling “I'm hit. My back.”

Gaines was taken to Creighton University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. He'd been shot in the back, and a bullet lodged in his heart.

Police later interviewed Nolan, who said he'd been at his home the entire day. During a search of the stolen vehicle, investigators found a fingerprint belonging to Nolan on a music CD in the back seat. A thumbprint on a cup was matched to Taylor.

Taylor refused to talk with police. According to cell phone records, five calls were placed between phones owned by Taylor and Nolan in the six minutes after Gaines was shot.

The driver of the car, a 19-year-old Omaha man, was arrested on suspicion of theft by receiving stolen property.

Nolan and Taylor are expected to make court appearances early next week, according to Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine.

Nolan already was in jail in connection with the non-fatal shooting of a 25-year-old Omaha man this month near U.S. Highway 75 and Hamilton Street. In that case, Nolan has been charged with first-degree assault and use of a firearm to commit a felony. He is set to have a preliminary hearing on that shooting next Friday.

Contact the writer:

444-1279, jason.kuiper@owh.com