A Dawes County District Court jury needed only about 2-½ hours Friday to find 20-year old Ian “Sage” Little Moon guilty of 2nd-degree murder in the July 23, 2021, death of 72-year old John “JD” Martinez.
The jury of 8 men and 4 women also found Little Moon guilty of felony use of a deadly weapon in the trial that began Wednesday. District Judge Travis O’Gorman set sentencing for Jan 11, 2023, and ordered a pre-sentence investigation.
Little Moon was charged with 1st-degree murder for shooting Martinez, the live-in significant other of Little Moon’s older sister Reva and father of two of her children, but 2nd-degree murder is lesser charge included in 1st-degree murder.
Both charges are for intentionally killing a person, but 1st-degree murder requires planning or premeditation while 2nd-degree murder does not.
The prosecution rested its case about 9:45 Friday morning after an hour of testimony by a ballistics expert and the defense followed suit immediately after without calling any witnesses. Closing arguments began about 12:40.
Lead defense counsel Todd Lancaster of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy argued in both his opening and closing statements that Little Moon did not intend to kill Martinez. He asked the jurors to convict Little Moon of manslaughter for causing a death while committing a felony.
Lead prosecutor and Assistant Attorney General Doug Warner countered that Little Moon showed premeditation by getting his gun from his brother’s room at the Martinez home, loading, going down to the basement bedroom where Martinez was sleeping, waking him up, then shooting him.