Friends who were with Lincoln woman the night of her shooting death, share their side to the story

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The arraignment for 37-year-old Tyler Benzel was held on Friday at the Lancaster County courthouse.

ALSO SEE: Lincoln murder suspect held without bond due to being a risk to the community

Benzel was arrested for first degree murder in the shooting death of 19-year-old Nyandeng Chol, who was called Brianna by her friends.

Five of Chol’s friends sat quietly in the courtroom as the judge went over what’s next for Benzel.

Several of them were with Chol when she was killed and spoke with Channel 8 about their side of what happened that tragic night.

“People keep saying that we were hiding on their lawn or hiding behind a shed or something. We were not doing that,” said Savannah Khol.

The night of the shooting, Chol and her group- which included her 15-year-old cousin- got into a dispute with Benzel’s wife.

Lincoln police later confirming that they believe the confrontation was started by Benzel’s wife.

“She told her husband to show us what she got, show us what he got, and then he was like, “Are y’all ready to die over something so little?’,” said Khol.

“They [Chol and friends] were just walking down the alleyway, and they [Benzel and wife] just came outside, calling us all types of racial slurs” she said.

It is unclear what the dispute was over, but LPD says what happened next is that Tyler Benzel left his property and made verbal threats to the group.

Shortly after, he raised his firearm and fired a single shot that hit Brianna, later killing her.

“They tried to like de-escalate the situation by walking away, but she kept walking up to us. She kept following us. She did not want to leave us alone,” said Khol.

It was determined at Friday’s arraignment that Benzel would be held without bond due to the risk he presents to the public.

The group of friends letting out a collective gasp when officials brought up Benzel’s violent past prior to this case.

“In October 2025, the defendant and his wife contacted police regarding an intoxicated man trespassing on their property. There was a video taken from that incident where the defendant was seen pointing a handgun at the trespasser’s head and later striking him in the head with a wooden board,” said the county prosecuter.

Benzel remained silent for much of the arraignment, but when answering the judges’ questions he confirmed he has four kids who live with him, at least two of them are teenagers.

Brianna’s friends say they wish Benzel could have put himself in the shoes of Brianna’s parents.

“Bri loved her family, none of them knew that this would be the last moment just because they walked down an alleyway,” said Laveya Stephens.

Brianna’s friends and family say they will continue to defend her side of the story and although they hope justice will be served, nothing can bring her back.