photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured on Nov. 25, 2025.

A 30-year-old Lawrence man was found guilty Wednesday in Douglas County District Court after he pleaded no contest to aggravated battery in connection with a stabbing incident two years ago outside a Lawrence restaurant.

The defendant, Edgar Oropeza Diaz, was originally charged with aggravated battery as a level 4 person felony but pleaded down to a less serious level 7 person felony. He faces between 11 and 34 months, depending on his criminal history, when he is sentenced on April 27.

Senior Judge Merlin Wheeler, filling in for Judge Amy Hanley, cited the arrest affidavit as a factual basis for the plea, but did not recite any details of that document in court. Prosecutor Eve Kemple told the court that the victim in the case was “satisfied” with the plea agreement.

As the Journal-World reported, police responded just before 9:30 p.m. on May 12, 2024, to El Potro Mexican Cafe, 3333 Iowa St., where two workers from the restaurant had engaged in an argument.

During the argument one of the men, later identified as Oropeza Diaz, reportedly stabbed the other man, leaving wounds on his upper body and face, police said. The victim was taken to an area trauma center with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

Police later located Oropeza Diaz in a parked car near 24th and Ridge Court, where he was taken into custody without incident.