KEARNEY — A Kearney man will spend decades behind bars after receiving consecutive prison sentences for a shooting that wounded another man during a vehicle chase last December.
Remberto Marroquin Jr., 36, was sentenced July 9 in Buffalo County District Court after entering no contest pleas to first-degree assault, a Class II felony, and unlawful discharge of a firearm, a Class ID felony. Prosecutors dismissed a charge of use of a firearm to commit a felony as part of the plea agreement.
A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but carries the same legal effect as a guilty plea during sentencing.
District Judge Kane Ramsey sentenced Marroquin to 40 to 50 years in prison for the assault conviction and another consecutive 40- to 50-year sentence for unlawfully discharging a firearm. He also received credit for 216 days already served in custody.
Court records indicate the affidavit supporting Marroquin’s continued detention remains under seal.
According to the Kearney Police Department, the investigation began around 7:26 a.m. on Dec. 6 when a 26-year-old woman called 911, reporting that her ex-boyfriend was pursuing the vehicle she was riding in while firing multiple shots.
The woman was a passenger, while a 36-year-old man was driving. The pair fled directly to the Kearney/Buffalo County Law Enforcement Center, where officers discovered the driver had suffered a gunshot wound to his arm. He was transported to a local hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Police said the woman was not injured and identified Marroquin as the shooter. Investigators determined the gunfire began near the 1100 block of West 21st Street and continued as the suspect chased the victims eastbound on 21st Street at high speed, crossing Second Avenue as they made their way to the Law Enforcement Center.
Authorities later tracked Marroquin to the 400 block of East Eighth Street in south Kearney. The Kearney/Buffalo County Emergency Services Unit responded to the location and took him into custody at approximately 11:30 a.m. without incident.
