photo by: Journal-World File

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E. 11th St., is pictured on Wednesday, April 8, 2020.

An Overland Park man was convicted Friday in connection with a December 2019 shooting that injured a teenage boy in Lawrence.

Brandon R. Jimenez, 34, had been charged Sept. 29 with second-degree attempted murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery and attempted aggravated robbery, all mid- to high-level felonies. During a hearing on Friday, however, he pleaded no contest to attempted aggravated battery, attempted robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, less severe felonies.

Chief Assistant Douglas County District Attorney Eve Kemple said during the hearing that she and Jimenez’s defense attorney, Cooper Overstreet, had agreed to recommend a sentence of 68 months in prison, or five years and eight months.

A second case, in which Jimenez was charged with driving without a license, interference with law enforcement and driving without headlights when headlights are needed, was dismissed with prejudice as part of the plea agreement.

Kemple told District Court Judge Amy Hanley that the charges stemmed from a dispute between a 17-year-old boy and his ex-girlfriend. The two had set up a marijuana buy, but the teen grabbed the drugs and ran without paying, Kemple said. The ex-girlfriend, in turn, stole some of the teen’s belongings, Kemple alleged.

The ex-girlfriend then spoke to Jimenez, and they and the ex-girlfriend’s roommate met up with the teen to give his belongings back and get the money for the marijuana, Kemple said. However, Jimenez got out of the car with a gun instead, so the teen got back in his car and drove away, Kemple said. Jimenez then fired the gun, striking the teen in the leg, Kemple said.

Jimenez will be required to register as a violent offender for 15 years.

The judge revoked Jimenez’s bond Friday afternoon, and he is set to be sentenced Nov. 24. The judge is not required to follow the 68-month sentence that Kemple and Overstreet agreed to recommend.

The Journal-World requested Jimenez’s booking photo from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office after his first appearance, but that request was declined.

The ex-girlfriend and her roommate were arrested shortly after the December incident, and they were later charged with aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery. The roommate entered a plea agreement and was sentenced to two years of probation in June, court records indicate; the ex-girlfriend’s case is still pending in Douglas County District Court.

Related coverage

• Sept. 29, 2020: Overland Park man charged in connection with alleged robbery attempt, shooting that injured teen in Lawrence

• Dec. 9, 2019: Teen boy suffers gunshot wound in Lawrence, police say