An Omaha man was sentenced Tuesday to 77 to 115 years in prison for the chase and shooting that ended with the death of a young mother in a Walmart parking lot.

Douglas County District Judge Horacio Wheelock sentenced Marcus Wheeler, 21, to the term for the April 18, 2018, killing of Kay Nelson. Nelson, 21, left behind two sons under age 5.

Under state sentencing guidelines, Wheeler will serve 41 years before he is eligible for parole; absent parole, he must serve 60 years.

 
Kayviaun Nelson

Kayviaun Nelson with her children, who were ages 5 months and 2 years when this photo was taken.

Wheeler had faced 25 years to life in prison. After taking the case to trial, the former gang member had apologized to the judge and Nelson’s family — saying Nelson was a friend and former girlfriend who was not the intended target that day.

Judge Wheelock noted that at least seven shots were fired in a crowded parking lot, toward the end of an afternoon.

“She suffered the consequences of a bullet that was meant for someone else,” Wheelock said.

The shooting followed a furious half-hour chase through northern Omaha that began when Wheeler, then 19, spotted his former girlfriend with her then-2-year-old son and her new boyfriend, Andrell Goynes-Wynn, along with his mother, Shawtina Wynn, at the Dollar General near 56th Street and Ames Avenue.

Wheeler challenged Goynes-Wynn to a fight. Police have said gang rivalries may have underscored the confrontation. Nelson backed up to a remote part of the Dollar General parking lot to try to defuse the situation.

She couldn’t leave because Shawtina Wynn was in the store, picking up supplies for the 4-month-old child of Nelson and Goynes-Wynn. That child was at a relative’s home at the time.

Wynn emerged from the store and saw trouble brewing.

“There will not be a fight today,” she called out. “There’s a baby in that car.”

The announcement didn’t deter the folks in a bronze Chevy Malibu. For more than a half-hour, they chased Nelson’s Hyundai Tucson SUV.

Panicked, Nelson tried to lose the Malibu, prosecutor Erin Hurley said. She wove through neighborhoods. She pulled into the parking lot of Marian High School. She essentially ran a red light in hopes that the Malibu would get stuck at it. It didn’t.

Along the way, her boyfriend’s mother called two other adult sons who lived just up the street from the Walmart near 99th and Fort Streets. Wynn told her sons to meet them in the parking lot.

Nelson pulled into the Walmart parking lot in her Hyundai. The Malibu pulled in a few stalls away.

Outside the cars, Goynes-Wynn’s brother, Adren, squared off with Wheeler.

A fight ensued. Fists flew. At some point, Wheeler began kicking.

Adren Goynes-Wynn warned Wheeler not to kick him. The next time he tried to, Adren grabbed Wheeler’s foot and shoved him onto his back.

Wheeler was embarrassed and furious, according to Hurley. He walked over and grabbed a gun from a friend, Daion Williams.

People scattered. Wynn’s sons took off running, zigzagging through the parking lot. Wynn hid behind a light pole.

Nelson was the only adult in her SUV, her son in his car seat in the back. She couldn’t leave him.

As Wheeler walked up to her SUV, Nelson pulled forward to try to get away from him. He opened fire, hitting her twice. Her car rolled forward, eventually crashing into a pickup truck across the parking lot.