photo by: Mackenzie Clark

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, which houses Douglas County District Court and a number of other criminal justice services at 111 E. 11th St., is pictured April 8, 2020.

An 18-year-old woman testified in Douglas County District Court Thursday that two Lawrence teens followed her and her boyfriend in a vehicle through North Lawrence before a shooting where she was struck in the back of her head and neck.

The woman, Caylee Nehrbass, testified during a preliminary hearing that Alejandro Martinez-Diaz and Ontareo X. Jackson, both 18, appeared to be chasing her and her boyfriend and she was worried “something was going to happen.” She said they briefly lost the two men in the neighborhood, but that the two vehicles crossed paths again at the intersection of North Seventh and North streets, where one of the men opened fire.

Nehrbass said she blacked out after she was hit, but woke up while her boyfriend, Javier Romero, was on the phone with 911 reporting the shooting and was driving her to the hospital. She said she began holding her neck because she was “gushing” blood. She also said she still has bullet fragments in the back of her head that are too small to be removed.

Nehrbass’ testimony was part of the evidence provided during a preliminary hearing in the cases of Martinez-Diaz and Jackson, who are each charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the May 27 shooting.

Nehrbass’ testimony was sometimes at odds with details the other alleged victim in the case, Romero, provided to police immediately after the incident. But a prosecutor and attorneys representing the defendants in the case could not ask Romero about the inconsistencies because he repeatedly refused to testify during the hearing.

“I refuse to answer your questions,” Romero said to Senior Assistant District Attorney Seth Brackman.

Judge Kay Huff then held Romero in contempt, and he was taken out of the courtroom.

Romero is currently in Douglas County Jail custody and has been charged with first-degree murder in a separate shooting in September. In that case, Romero is accused of killing Christian Willis of Wichita on Sept. 8, as the Journal-World previously reported.

Brackman said during the hearing that Romero and Jackson were currently being housed in the same section of the Douglas County Jail and could have had contact there, despite a no-contact order from the court.

With Romero refusing to testify on Thursday, the court heard his version of events from detectives Mike Verbanic and Meghan Bardwell of the Lawrence Police Department, who both interviewed Romero shortly after the incident. Verbanic said Romero told police he noticed a vehicle following him and his girlfriend while they were driving over the Kansas River bridge into North Lawrence.

Romero told the officers that he and his girlfriend were driving toward Lyons Park, where his girlfriend planned to smoke marijuana. He told the police he noticed Martinez-Diaz and Jackson in the vehicle and they were tailgating his vehicle and yelled at him to move faster.

Romero said he made an obscene gesture at the vehicle and turned onto a different street, and that Martinez-Diaz and Jackson kept going straight. After driving around the residential area of North Lawrence, the vehicles both approached the intersection of North Seventh and North streets, where Romero told the officers Jackson was hanging out of the passenger side window and began firing a rifle.

However, during her testimony, Nehrbass said Martinez-Diaz and Jackson followed her and Romero into the residential area and Romero drove recklessly to try to lose them. She said he was able to lose them at one point, only to then encounter them again at the intersection. She also said that Martinez-Diaz was hanging out of the driver’s side window and firing at them.

Other details were also at odds, including Nehrbass’ account that they were driving through North Lawrence on their way to Tonganoxie to visit Romero’s family. She also said they drove toward North Lawrence immediately after Romero got off work, although Romero told police they visited his cousin’s house in southwestern Lawrence before heading that way.

Nehrbass also testified that Romero pulled a gun out of the glove compartment of the car while they were being followed, but she told him to put it away and “not do anything stupid.” She said he then threw the gun in the back of the vehicle.

Romero told the officers the gun was in his vehicle because a friend of his left it there the night before and he hadn’t been able to return it yet. Nehrbass testified that she had no knowledge of the friend meeting with Romero the night before and that she believed the gun belonged to Romero.

The court also heard from Tyler Kruzel, a police officer who responded to the scene of the incident, who said he discovered 18 shell casings in the area that appeared to come from three separate firearms.

Two more witnesses, both detectives for the Lawrence Police Department, were unable to give testimony on Thursday. The court scheduled the preliminary hearing to continue on Nov. 2.

Lawrence police arrested Martinez-Diaz on May 28. He was later released from jail after posting a $75,000 cash or surety bond. Jackson was arrested on Aug. 3 and was still in jail custody as of Thursday.