Gonzalez Sentenced To 70 Years

Jake J. Gonzalez, 19, of Lincoln, will spend the next several decades behind bars for his role in the death of a two-year-old child in 2021, as well as a separate case where he was accused of shooting a Fairbury man in 2020. Vicky Johnson was the presiding judge in both cases.Child Abuse Resulting in DeathOn October 25, 2021, after little more than two hours deliberation, a jury came back with a guilty verdict for Gonzalez. He was found Guilty of both child abuse resulting in death, a Class 1B felony, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, and terroristic threats, a Class 3A felony, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison, 18 months post-release supervision and a $10,000 fine.The jury had the option of finding Gonzalez guilty of manslaughter. The verdict of guilty to the charge of child abuse resulting in death means the jury determined Gonzalez intentionally inflicted the injuries that led to the death of two-year-old Hollen Siedschlag.Gonzalez was arrested in Fairbury on Friday night, February 26, 2021. According to a statement from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office issued shortly after the defendant’s arrest, deputies were called to the apartment building at 720 J Street in Fairbury for a welfare check on Bailey Siedschlag, who was living at the residence.Upon arrival, Siedschlag stated that she needed an ambulance for her two-year-old child. Deputies found the two year old child in an apartment closet, unresponsive and showing severe injuries to the torso and head. An ambulance was called at approximately 6:30 p.m.The child was transported to Jefferson Community Health and Life by County Ambulance District #33. From there the child was flown via helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Omaha, where he later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.The trial began Monday, October 18 and was scheduled for two weeks but went faster than anticipated. Evidence and testimony by the state took less than three days.Shooting CaseNever mentioned during the course of the trial were other charges against Jake Gonzalez in Jefferson County. Gonzalez was arrested on May 18, 2020, for allegedly shooting a Fairbury man, Lance Powers, who reportedly suffered multiple gunshot wounds.Powers survived and has since been released from the hospital.In this case, the defendant was charged with three counts: first degree assault, a class 2 felony punishable by a minimum of one year and a maximum of 50 years in prison; the use of a firearm to commit a felony, a class 1C felony punishable by a minimum of five years and a maximum of 50 years in prison; and the unlawful discharge of a firearm, a class 1D felony punishable by a minimum of three years and a maximum of 50 years in prison.Ten days after being found guilty of the death of the child, Gonzalez informed the court he had accepted a plea agreement in the shooting case. In accordance with the plea agreement, Gonzalez pleaded No Contest to a reduced charge of attempted of first degree assault, a class 2A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, with no minimum. The defendant can also be required to pay restitution. The remaining charges were dismissed.Gonzalez was free on a $250,000 (10 percent) bond in the shooting case when he was arrested for the homicide.Closing Statements of the ProsecutionBoth the State and the defense were represented by different attorneys for each case.William Tangeman, with the Nebraska State Attorney General’s Office represented the State in the homicide case, gave a statement in which he explained why he felt Gonzalez should receive the maximum penalty: “A ruthless attack of a two-year-old child who was defenseless, and the defendant really takes no responsibility for his actions. And not only was the attack itself horrific, but the defendant’s actions were horrific.”“Another thing that stood out to me looking at the Pre-Sentencing Investigation, various assessments that were done by the Probation Officer of Mr. Gonzalez, the risk assessments. What’s made clear by those is that the defendant is a danger to the citizens of Jefferson County and to Nebraska. The assessments, the bottom line was that he has a high risk to re-offend if Mr. Gonzalez should ever seen the light of day. And that should be deeply concerning to the court. And the risk is made clear, not only through these assessments but also from what we know about Mr. Gonzalez’s life, which is documented in the Pre-Sentence Investigation. What we know from that is that he shot a man multiple times. He was given some leniency, was able to bond out and while he was bonded out, that is when he beat a two-year-old child to death and threatened to do so to another child.”Gonzalez has spent most of his time in custody incarcerated at the Seward County Jail. Tangeman noted the defendant’s record since his incarceration, “We know that after the defendant was arrested, he assaulted an inmate in Seward and was charged and it was eventually plead out, but he assaulted an inmate. And another thing I found interesting in the Pre-Sentence Investigation were these reports from his time in Seward. I count 13 incidents in less than a year, 13 incidents say while he’s incarcerated in Seward where a violence or threats of violence towards inmates and towards the jail staff.”During the trial, the Prosecution presented recordings of phone calls made by Gonzalez during his incarceration. Tangeman said, “And he, during the course of jail calls, the evidence we saw during the trial, he was completely indifferent to Hollen’s death. So a disregard for human life, coupled with a demonstrably violent nature, is an absolute nightmare scenario for the people of Nebraska in Jefferson County. Mr. Gonzalez is not a person that is compatible with society.”Special Jefferson County Attorney Michael Guinan spoke regarding the shooting case, “Again, he hit Mr. Powers four times during the shooting. Mr. Powers’ girlfriend and four-month-old child had to take cover behind the vehicle during the shooting. Again, he fled just like he did in the child abuse case after the assault there.”Guinan said, “The court is well aware, obviously, of the child abuse case. The shooting exhibited extreme violence, homicidal in nature, and Mr. Gonzalez, as Mr. Tangeman has noted, takes no responsibility, says he’s innocent in the shooting. Takes no responsibility in that case. Takes no responsibility in this case.”Guinan requested the sentences for the two cases run consecutively, meaning one after the other, rather than concurrently, meaning at the same time.Guinan added, “Your Honor, in his 19 short years on this Earth, he’s left that a path of death and destruction.”Closing Statements of the DefenseAttorney Benjamin Murray represented Gonzalez in the shooting case.“Your Honor, I’m in a weird position, because I’m just on the shooting case,” said Murray. “And I’d just like to clear up a little bit. The reason, one of the reasons, for the deal that Jake got in this case is because there weren’t any witnesses that actually saw him there. The victim identified him by voice at one time.”Murray requested the sentences to run consecutively, “I just wanted to note that to court that he was only 17 at the time that this happened. We did try to transfer it to juvenile court. He was just about to turn 18 and at that point really did not have a significant criminal history at all, which is the reason for the bond and the reason he was out.”The defendant was represented by Kelly S. Breen of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy for the homicide. Breen noted Gonzalez’s difficult childhood and upbringing, “He loves his parents, and he doesn’t fault them in the least for how they raised him, but they faced significant challenges. He was homeless for a time. He lived in multiple schools because of domestic volatility of his two parents, and the constant fighting that they undertook and the constant separations they had. That meant he moved from schools to schools in two different jurisdictions, Texas and Nebraska. And so many moves, he couldn’t even relate to the Probation Office how many.”Breen also pointed out the defendant’s age at the time of the offenses. Gonzalez was 17 at the time of the shooting and 18 when the homicide occurred, “These cases occurred when he was 17 to 18 years of age. He was still a youth. And what does science tell us? Well, science tells us that adolescents are less able to restrain their impulses, exercise self control, less capable of considering alternative courses of action. For all these reasons, even once their general cognitive abilities approach, approximately close to adults, juveniles are less capable than adults with mature judgment, and more likely to engage in risky, even criminal behavior as a result of that immaturity.”Breen said, “He has the potential that all youthful offenders have to reform themselves. In light of that, Judge, I ask you to take into consideration what we’ve recommended in our sentencing letter to you, that fashion an indeterminate sentence of years.”Judge Johnson interrupted Breen, “I don’t have a sentencing letter from you.”Breen said, “I emailed that to the bailiff over a week ago, Judge.”Breen had a copy of the letter in court and presented it to Judge Johnson, who reviewed it before continuing,The judge said, “I do note you addressed it to the wrong judge, so maybe that had something to do with it.”The Judgment“The court has considered all statutory factors in setting with defendants sanctions with special emphasis on the defendants age,” said Judge Johnson. “That both crimes involve extreme violence. And the defendant has shown no remorse and continued to be a problem inmate while in custody. I’m also very mindful of the phone call between the defendant and his brother. When the defendant was told that Hollen had died, the defendant showed no emotion and talked strictly about himself. The maximum sentence for child abuse resulting in death is life in prison. I had seriously considered that option. This was a heartless act. The only factor in mitigation of that sentence is the defendant’s age. There is no sentence that will remedy all of the harm that the defendant has done in both cases. The only thing that I can do here is to put an end to these cases.”Judge Johnson sentenced Gonzalez to not less than 70 years nor more than 80 years for child abuse resulting in death and three years for terroristic threats, with credit for 315 days times served. He was also sentenced to 20 years for the shooting, with credit for 58 days time served. Judge Johnson also ordered those sentences to run concurrently.This does not mean Gonzalez will spent the full 70 years in prison before becoming eligible for release. The Judge explained, “Pursuant to the Nebraska Truth in Sentencing Statute, I am required to inform you that you will become eligible for parole by taking the minimum sentence subtracting the number of days for which you’re given credit and divide the remainder in half. Assuming that you lose no good time, your mandatory release date is computed by taking the maximum sentence, subtracting the number of days and divide the remainders in half.”With time served and good behavior, Gonzalez could be released in under 40 years.The defendant was remanded to the custody of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office to carry out the sentence through the state department of corrections.

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