Duop Tang Deng, 24, male, was found shot shortly after 3 a.m. on March 27, 2021, when Omaha police responded to gunfire near North 24th and Emmet Streets. Officers discovered two victimsï Deng and 27-year-old Loklok W. Thok. One man died at the scene, and the other was taken to Nebraska Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police initially said little about a motive but urged tips from the public as the double homicide shook the neighborhood in the early morning darkness.
Within two days, investigators arrested 24-year-old Mabior Mabior and booked him into Douglas County Corrections on two counts of criminal homicide and related weapons charges. Detectives later testified that surveillance video and ballistic evidence pointed to Mabior as the shooter, strengthening a case that had moved quickly from a scene cordoned by cruisers to a suspect in custody.
A second arrest followed on March 31, 2021, when police took 24-year-old Nyamal Both into custody on suspicion of being an accessory to a felony in connection with the killings. The investigationï s outline became clearer in court: prosecutors alleged Mabior opened fire on the two men on the street, and detectives traced physical and video evidence back to him while identifying Bothï s role afterward.
By May 2021 a judge ordered Mabior to stand trial, and a Douglas County jury ultimately convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of use of a firearm to commit a felony. He received life sentences for each murder and additional terms of 15 to 30 years on the weapons counts. In August 2023, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences on direct appeal, leaving the verdict and punishment in place.
