Stepbrother says he saw stolen gun in Vazquez’s room the day before shooting

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Prosecutor Pat Condon called friends of Felipe Vazquez to the stand Friday in Vazquez’ trial in the slaying of Lincoln Police Investigator Mario Herrera.

One of those friends was Vazquez’ stepbrother, Angel Mendoza.

Mendoza, who is a few years younger than Vazquez, explained that he sometimes shared a room with him.

Mendoza told the jury that he came home from school on Aug. 25, 2020 — the day before the fatal shooting — and found Vazquez and Orion Ross playing video games in their room.

“When I had gotten down from school and I went into my bedroom, laid on my bed, and as I laid my head on the pillow, underneath the pillow, I seen that gun,” Mendoza said.

He then took a photo of the gun.

Barry Streater, the owner of the gun, had reported it being stolen from his house sometime in July 2020.  He is also Ross’ stepfather.

Streater identified the gun during the trial.  He had kept it in a gun safe under his bed.

“Does that appear to be the gun that you had?” Condon asked.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Streater replied.

Streater told the jury that when he reported the gun stolen, an officer came to his house and helped him review security footage.  He said the video showed Vazquez putting a bag in the trunk of the car.

Mendoza was initially charged with possession of a stolen firearm as an adult but entered a plea deal with the federal government and the Lancaster County attorney to be charged as a juvenile.

Mendoza admitted that he lied to police when he told them that he saw Ross brandishing the gun at a gender reveal party in July 2020.

“So you were given permission and in fact encouraged to be completely honest, and it wasn’t going to hurt you, correct?” defense attorney Nancy Peterson asked.

“Correct,” Mendoza replied.

“And you were supposed to talk to them in hopes of getting that favorable plea agreement to avoid that 20-year prison sentence, correct?” Peterson asked.

“Correct,” Mendoza said.

“And you lied?” Peterson said.

“I did,” Mendoza admitted.

The trial will resume on Monday.