A 26-year-old man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his role in a 2024 drive-by shooting that killed a man in North Omaha, admitting his part in a crime in which video captured muzzle flashes. Pierre Woods entered the plea in Douglas County District Court on Friday, and he now faces a sentence ranging from 20 years to life in prison when he returns to court in December.
Woods was one of four people arrested in connection with the fatal shooting, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The shooting happened in April 2024 at 24th and Ohio Streets. The victim was Artrell Evans, 30.
Artrell Evans was found shot inside his vehicle near the intersection and later died at the hospital, according to KETV. He was struck multiple times before he died. Prosecutors alleged that video captured 19 muzzle flashes from two guns fired from an SUV's passenger side into the victim's car.
A Case Years in the Making
The shooting first drew police attention in the spring of 2024, when four people were taken into custody on charges that included first-degree murder, weapon use and accessory to a felony, according to KETV's earlier report on the investigation. At the time, prosecutors alleged that video had captured 19 muzzle flashes from two guns fired from an SUV's passenger side into the victim's car, per WOWT. That outlet's 2024 report named Krishna Johnigan Jr., 21, and a man identified as Pierre Jones-Woods, 24, as the two alleged to have opened fire from the front and back passenger seats of the SUV.
As part of Friday's plea agreement, the first-degree murder charge against Woods was downgraded to second-degree murder in exchange for his guilty plea, the World-Herald reported. Separately, Warren Muse pleaded no contest to two counts of being an accessory to a felony and was sentenced to 38 to 40 years in prison.
Co-Defendants Face Their Own Reckonings
Krishna Johnigan Jr. was found guilty by a jury and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 10, according to the World-Herald. India Johnston has been charged with being an accessory to a felony in a case still moving through the court system, while WOWT's 2024 reporting noted that Johnston was charged as an accessory with bond set at $1 million.
A separate defendant, Warren Muse, pleaded no contest to two counts of accessory to a felony, KETV reported, and was scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 25, 2025. All three men originally arrested in connection with the shooting — identified in WOWT's early coverage as Johnigan, Muse and Jones-Woods — had been charged with first-degree murder and held without bond as the case headed toward trial.
In the Evans case, a 24-year-old was convicted by a Douglas County jury of first-degree murder and faces up to life in prison. Under Nebraska law, second-degree murder is a Class IB felony, per the Nebraska Legislature's statute governing the offense. Woods is due back in Douglas County District Court in December to learn where within that range his sentence will fall.
