photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

A Lawrence teenager who was originally charged with two counts of attempted murder in what a Douglas County prosecutor called a “mafia style” shooting entered a plea to lesser charges on Monday.

The teen, Eduardo Martinez-Diaz, 16, was one of three teens who were alleged to have gotten out of their vehicle and fired multiple rounds at another vehicle, hitting Caylee Nehrbass in the head in North Lawrence on May 27, 2021. Nehrbass was a passenger in a car with her then boyfriend, Javier I. Romero, 19, of Lawrence. Nehrbass testified in October of 2021 that she still had bullet fragments in her head from the shooting.

Eduardo pleaded guilty to two felony counts of criminal discharge of a firearm at a vehicle with a person inside. He could receive up to 31 months in prison for each charge and must register as a violent offender for 15 years, according to the plea agreement. He remains free on a $75,000 bond and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 30, 2023.

Eduardo was 15 at the time of the incident, but he was ordered in June to stand trial as an adult by Judge Kay Huff, who retired in July. He is represented by defense attorney Hatem Chahine.

Eduardo is the second defendant to enter a plea in connection with the incident after Ontareo X. Jackson, 20, pleaded no contest in February to one charge of attempted second-degree murder for his part in the shooting and was sentenced to nearly five years in prison. Jackson is currently serving his time in the Hutchinson Correctional Facility, according to KDOC records.

photo by: Douglas County Sheriff’s Office

Ontareo X. Jackson

Also charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder is Eduardo’s older brother, Alejandro Martinez-Diaz, 20, of Lawrence. He is being held at the Douglas County Jail and is waiting on the results of an interlocutory appeal that was filed to compel a witness in the case, Romero, to testify. Alejandro is also facing additional marijuana distribution and gun possession charges that he received in March while out on a $75,000 bond and is now being held on a $250,000 bond.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Alejandro Martinez-Diaz appears at a jury trial on April 12, 2022. The trial was continued to a later date after a key witness refused to testify.

All three were originally charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Then-prosecutor Seth Brackman, during a preliminary hearing in November 2021, described the crime as a “mafia style” shooting.

The driver of the vehicle that Nehrbass was in, Romero, is facing a first-degree murder charge for an unrelated shooting and is accused of killing Christian Willis, 21, of Wichita, on Sept. 8, 2021, in the 1500 block of Kentucky Street. Romero’s co-defendant, Andrel D. Spates, 20, claimed in court filings filed by his attorney, Adam Hall, that he shot Willis after Willis tried to rob Romero during a drug deal. Spates is also charged with one count of first-degree murder for that incident.

Both Romero and Spates are in custody at the Douglas County Jail and each is being held on a $1 million cash or surety bond. They are scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 23, 2023.

Javier Romero, left, and Andrel D. Spates Jr., right.