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Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets

296 Nebraska Reports

STATE v. JONES

Cite as 296 Neb. 494

State of Nebraska, appellee, v. 

Akeem R. Jones, appellant.

___ N.W.2d ___

Filed April 21, 2017. No. S-16-754.

1. Criminal Law: Convictions: Evidence: Appeal and Error. When 

reviewing a criminal conviction for sufficiency of the evidence to 

sustain the conviction, the relevant question for an appellate court is 

whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the 

prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

2. Evidence: Appeal and Error. An appellate court does not resolve conflicts in the evidence, pass on the credibility of witnesses, determine the 

plausibility of explanations, or reweigh the evidence; such matters are 

for the finder of fact.

Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County: Leigh

Ann Retelsdorf, Judge. Affirmed.

Jerry M. Hug, of Alan G. Stoler, P.C., L.L.O., for appellant.

Douglas J. Peterson, Attorney General, and Siobhan E. 

Duffy for appellee.

Heavican, C.J., Wright, Miller-Lerman, Cassel, Stacy, 

Kelch, and Funke, JJ.

Stacy, J.

Akeem R. Jones was convicted of first degree murder and 

was sentenced to life imprisonment. This is his direct appeal. 

His sole assignment of error is that there was insufficient evidence to support the conviction. We affirm.

Nebraska Supreme Court Online Library

www.nebraska.gov/apps-courts-epub/

06/15/2017 05:13 PM CDT
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Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets

296 Nebraska Reports

STATE v. JONES

Cite as 296 Neb. 494

FACTS

On March 11, 2009, Gary Holmes was shot and killed inside 

BJ’s, a convenience store near 42d Street and Ames Avenue in 

Omaha, Nebraska. The shooter was wearing a black, hooded 

sweatshirt and a ski mask. The shooter did not enter BJ’s, but 

instead opened the front door to the store and fired 15 shots. 

Nine or ten of them hit Holmes, and several hit and severely 

injured another customer. The shooting occurred at approximately 2 p.m., and officers arrived at the scene almost immediately. The incident was recorded on surveillance tape and 

observed by several witnesses.

Dontia Bullard

After arriving at the scene, police made contact with Dontia 

Bullard. Bullard lived in an apartment he described as being 

“about 20 seconds away” from BJ’s. Bullard, his girlfriend, 

and his infant son were getting out of a cab in front of the 

apartment when he saw two people in a red car parked in a 

nearby alley. A young man dressed in black got out of the car, 

cut through the backyard of Bullard’s neighbor, and walked 

toward BJ’s. Bullard worked at BJ’s and recognized the man 

as a regular customer he knew as “Grimey.” Other witnesses 

testified that Grimey was Jones’ nickname.

Bullard testified that by the time he got to his apartment 

door, he heard approximately 15 gunshots. He sent his girlfriend and child inside and stayed by the door. From his 

doorway, he saw Jones come back through the neighbor’s 

yard and return to the red car, carrying a ski mask and a gun. 

Bullard admitted on cross-examination that he had contact 

with police within minutes of the shooting and was questioned within hours of the shooting, but did not immediately 

tell them about what he saw. A few days afterward, however, 

Bullard contacted police and gave a statement. He explained 

that initially, he did not want to be involved, but decided to 

come forward because Holmes had been a friend. He admitted 

on cross-examination that he had been at BJ’s almost every 
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Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets

296 Nebraska Reports

STATE v. JONES

Cite as 296 Neb. 494

day since the shooting and had talked about the shooting with 

people there.

Tysheonna Anthony

Tysheonna Anthony also testified at trial. On March 11, 

2009, she was living in Omaha with Jones’ mother and was 

friends with Jones. On the day of the shooting, Anthony, 

Jones, Jamie Romaine Pace, and another man were driving 

around in a tan Cadillac owned by Pace. They stopped at 

BJ’s sometime in the late morning so that Anthony could purchase a cigar, which she intended to use to smoke marijuana. 

Anthony entered the store while the others remained in the car. 

As she was leaving the store, Anthony saw two men approaching. One was wearing a black baseball cap with a “P” on it. 

These men were later identified as Holmes and Rodney Smith. 

Anthony got back in the car, and the foursome continued driving around.

They returned to BJ’s a few hours later so Anthony could 

purchase another cigar. Again, Anthony entered the store alone, 

and the others remained in the car. Anthony testified that while 

she was in the store, Holmes and Smith were “mugging” her, 

which meant they were “staring [her] down.” She thought they 

were also staring down the others in the car. When Anthony 

returned to the car, Jones was angry and starting asking about 

the guy in the “P” hat. Jones then asked if the others wanted 

to “earn their stripes” by going into the store and shooting the 

two men.

Anthony testified that none of the other occupants wanted to 

get involved, so they left BJ’s. A few minutes later, however, 

they met Maxwell Griffey and his girlfriend Syerra Chatmon 

in an alley near BJ’s. Griffey and Chatmon were driving a 

red Ford Focus. Jones was still angry and “going off,” and he 

got out of the Cadillac and started talking to Griffey. Anthony 

could not hear the conversation, but she described Jones’ 

demeanor as “pissed,” explaining she could “see in his face 

that he’s pretty mad.” Anthony saw Jones change clothes with 
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Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets

296 Nebraska Reports

STATE v. JONES

Cite as 296 Neb. 494

Griffey in the alley, after which Jones got into the red car with 

Griffey. Chatmon got out of the red car and into the Cadillac 

with Anthony and the others, and Jones told Anthony to leave 

and go to his mother’s apartment. Anthony testified she knew 

Jones had a ski mask and a gun with him, because she had 

seen them when he was still in the Cadillac.

The Cadillac and its occupants then left the alley, and drove 

to an apartment complex on 48th Street, where Jones’ mother 

lived. According to Anthony, Griffey and Jones arrived at the 

apartment approximately 5 minutes later in the red car. At 

least Jones, Griffey, and Anthony went inside the apartment, 

and while there, Jones and Anthony went into the bathroom. 

Jones then told Anthony he had returned to BJ’s, opened the 

front door, and “start[ed] shooting.” He described shooting 

two men, and showed her the 9-mm gun he used. He then took 

off his clothes, sprayed them with something, lit them on fire, 

and tossed them out the bathroom window. Anthony testified 

she did not contact police because Jones told her if the police 

found out what had happened, he would “know it came from 

us” and he would “shoot all of us.”

Griffey was killed in July 2009. Police contacted Anthony 

while investigating that homicide, and also asked her about 

the March 2009 shooting at BJ’s. At that time, Anthony told 

investigators about Jones’ involvement. By the time of trial, 

Anthony was incarcerated and serving a sentence for two 

felony convictions.

Jamie Romaine Pace

Pace’s trial testimony was similar to Anthony’s. However, 

according to Pace, after the second trip to BJ’s, she drove 

her tan Cadillac directly to the apartment complex on 48th 

Street, where they were met by the red car occupied by Griffey 

and Chatmon. Pace also recalled that Anthony got into the 

red car with Jones and Griffey. Pace thought Jones appeared 

upset and warned Anthony not to get involved. Pace testified that she randomly encountered Jones at a store sometime 
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STATE v. JONES

Cite as 296 Neb. 494

after the shooting and he told her he was worried Anthony 

would talk.

Syerra Chatmon

Chatmon also testified. She, like Anthony, recalled the meeting of the two cars occurring in the alley near BJ’s. Chatmon 

stated that she got in the tan car originally occupied by Jones, 

Anthony, and Pace while Jones got into the red car she had 

arrived in with Griffey. Chatmon stated the tan car then went 

to the apartment complex on 48th Street, and Griffey and Jones 

arrived approximately 20 minutes later.

Evidence of Fire

A man who lived at the 48th Street apartment complex 

testified that sometime in March 2009, he noticed a fire near 

a dumpster and attempted to put it out. The fire consisted of 

clothes or rags on top of a mattress or box spring. Fire department records show a unit was dispatched to the 48th Street 

apartment complex at 2:25 p.m. on March 11 and found a 

smoldering mattress near a dumpster.

Christopher Coddington

Jones did not testify at trial. The sole witness called on his 

behalf was Christopher Coddington. Coddington was sitting in 

the driver’s side back seat of a car parked in front of BJ’s at 

the time of the shooting. He testified that the shooter was wearing a black hoodie. Coddington got out of the car and tried to 

follow the shooter as he or she ran around the outside corner 

of the store. Coddington thought he saw the shooter running 

toward 42d Street, in a northwesterly direction. The record 

indicates that the red car Bullard saw Jones exit and return to 

was located near 41st Street, east of BJ’s.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty, and the district court 

sentenced Jones to life imprisonment. He filed this timely 

direct appeal.
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Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets

296 Nebraska Reports

STATE v. JONES

Cite as 296 Neb. 494

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

Jones’ sole assignment of error is that there was insufficient 

evidence to support the verdict.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[1] When reviewing a criminal conviction for sufficiency of 

the evidence to sustain the conviction, the relevant question 

for an appellate court is whether, after viewing the evidence in 

the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier 

of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime 

beyond a reasonable doubt.1

ANALYSIS

A person commits murder in the first degree if he or she 

kills another purposely and with deliberate and premeditated 

malice.2 Jones argues there was insufficient evidence to convict him, because the identity of the shooter was not established beyond a reasonable doubt. Jones does not contest the 

sufficiency of the evidence related to the other elements of 

the crime.

Jones argues that although both Bullard and Anthony identified Jones as the shooter, the “bulk”3

 of their testimony was 

not corroborated. He further asserts that other evidence contradicted the testimony of Bullard and Anthony. In essence, Jones 

asks this court to reweigh the evidence adduced at trial.

[2] But that is not the role of an appellate court. An appellate court does not resolve conflicts in the evidence, pass 

on the credibility of witnesses, determine the plausibility of 

explanations, or reweigh the evidence; such matters are for 

the finder of fact.4 The relevant question for an appellate 

1 State v. Olbricht, 294 Neb. 974, 885 N.W.2d 699 (2016).

2 Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28-303(1) (Reissue 2016).

3 Brief for appellant at 10.

4 See State v. Rocha, 295 Neb. 716, 890 N.W.2d 178 (2017).
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Nebraska Supreme Court Advance Sheets

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STATE v. JONES

Cite as 296 Neb. 494

court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most 

favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could 

have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.5

Here, Jones challenges only the sufficiency of the evidence 

to identify him as the shooter. As such, the question before us 

is whether, after reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, any rational trier of fact could have found 

beyond a reasonable doubt that Jones was the shooter.6 We 

conclude it could.

Anthony testified that Jones was upset prior to the shooting, 

proposed the shooting, possessed a ski mask and a gun prior to 

the shooting, and confessed to the shooting after it occurred. 

Bullard testified that he saw Jones walking toward BJ’s and 

soon thereafter heard gunshots. He then saw Jones returning 

to the red car carrying a gun and a ski mask. This evidence, 

if believed by a trier of fact, was sufficient to establish Jones’ 

identity as the shooter beyond a reasonable doubt. Jones’ argument to the contrary is without merit.

CONCLUSION

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Jones’ conviction and 

sentence.

Affirmed.

5 Id.; State v. Olbricht, supra note 1.

6 Id.