Cellmate says Vazquez told him why he shot Herrera: ‘It was either him or the cop’

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Jurors heard from Felipe Vazquez’s cellmate Wednesday as testimony continued.

Christopher Brewer told the jurors that Vazquez told him everything that happened the day when LPD Investigator Mario Herrera was shot, including what made him allegedly fire the gun at Herrera.

“Instead of coming out, his friend handed him a gun, and he took the gun and broke the window out, and he said there was an officer around the corner pointing his gun at him,” Brewer said.

Brewer said Vazquez told him that everything had happened fast.

“He said to me that he looked at the cop, and it was either him or the cop, and he said that’s when he fired,” Brewer said.

Vazquez then told Brewer that his friend Orion Ross ran from the house one way so that he could run the other way down an alley, but not before Vazquez heard Herrera’s screams of pain.

“He said he heard him yelling and reaching for his stomach,” Brewer said.

“So yelling that he was in pain?” Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon asked.

“Yeah, in pain, yeah,” Brewer said.

The defense worked to discredit Brewer, who agreed to testify against Vazquez after accepting a plea deal.

Defense attorney Nancy Peterson said that Brewer had been charged before with lying to police and that by taking a plea deal, he would get himself out of a longer sentence.

Brewer said that was not his intention.

Jurors today also heard from the doctor who performed the autopsy on Herrera.

Dr. Erin Linde outlined the extent of his wounds.