Marcus S. Keyser, 23, male, was found shot to death in the early morning hours of July 6, 2021, in Lexington, Nebraska. Police were first alerted by a 911 call reporting gunfire around 1:45 a.m. near the 800 block of West 9th Street and a white vehicle in the area. Officers returned to the scene at approximately 3:10 a.m., where they discovered Keyser deceased from a gunshot wound.
Local coverage characterized the attack as a suspected drive-by shooting as investigators worked to establish what happened in the dark, quiet stretch of neighborhood streets.
In the weeks that followed, authorities announced arrests in connection with the killing. On July 26, 2021, Lexington police arrested two 19-year-olds Adalberto Saenz-Gonzalez and Francisco Hernandez-Corona on counts of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. Court records referenced by reporters indicated that the men had earlier been encountered near the area sitting in a white Ford Explorer and cited for alcohol-related offenses, details that later formed part of the investigative timeline. Bond for each was set at 10 percent of $1 million as the case moved into preliminary hearings.
More than a year later, the case against the two suspects unraveled in Dawson County District Court. In September 2022, a jury found Hernandez-Corona not guilty of first-degree murder and the associated weapons charge. Days afterward, prosecutors moved to dismiss the murder and firearms charges against Saenz-Gonzalez, a request the judge granted. With those outcomes, no one remained convicted in Keyser s death, leaving the fatal shooting without a legal resolution despite the earlier arrests.
Public remembrances and death notices identified the victim as Marcus Scott Keyser Jr., a Lexington resident who died on Tuesday, July 6, 2021. These notices and victim registries recorded his age and the date and place of his death, while community tributes marked his loss to gun violence.
