Kyle LeFlore, a 27-year-old Black / African American male, was a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant on leave and visiting family in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, when his life was tragically cut short. In the early morning hours of Saturday, January 6, 2018, LeFlore was at the Reign Lounge. Around 1:45 a.m., officers responded to a call and found him outside the nightclub with gunshot wounds. He was rushed to the Nebraska Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
LeFlore, who had served deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, had just returned in December from a year-long assignment in South Korea and was preparing to move to Arizona to serve as a recruiter.
The investigation into the homicide led to several arrests. On January 12, an arrest warrant was issued for 27-year-old Larry Goynes, who was subsequently booked for first-degree murder. On January 18, 35-year-old Jason Devers was also arrested and charged with first-degree murder. The investigation continued to unfold, and by the end of March, more individuals were taken into custody in connection with the crime. These included 44-year-old Latiba Lemon, charged with criminal conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and 21-year-old Duane Walker, who faced a charge of terroristic threats. Another individual, 20-year-old Shydale Glass, was charged as an accessory and for possession of a weapon by a prohibited person.
Prosecutors laid out a case that described the incident as a robbery that turned fatal. Surveillance footage showed both Jason Devers and the alleged gunman, Larry Goynes, at the Reign Lounge in the time leading up to the shooting. According to court testimony, Devers and Goynes waited in Devers' truck for LeFlore to leave the lounge. Goynes then allegedly confronted LeFlore in an attempt to rob him. When LeFlore resisted, he was shot, and his jewelry was stolen. A gold chain with LeFlore's DNA was later discovered among Devers' possessions. Although Devers was not the shooter, he was convicted of first-degree murder and a weapons charge under a state law that holds accomplices accountable for a death that occurs during the commission of a robbery. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison.
