Inset: Manuel Alejandro Mesa Cabrera (Platte County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The Walmart located at 818 East 23rd Street in Columbus, Nebraska (Google Maps).Â
A man has admitted to asking his stepfather to come to Walmart to look for a vehicle part and then shooting him in the chest and head.
Manuel Mesa-Cabrera, 26, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old Anhil Mirabal Hernandez, Omaha-based ABC affiliate KETV reported. The defendant is set to be sentenced in April.
On May 27, 2025, Mesa-Cabrera and Hernandez went to the Walmart located at 818 East 23rd Street in Columbus. Mesa-Cabrera had asked his stepfather to join him at the superstore to help him shop for a vehicle part, authorities said.
Mesa-Cabrera was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, and he was not taking any medication or seeing a doctor for his condition, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Lincoln-based CBS affiliate KOLN. Authorities believe that in the days leading up to that fateful spring day, the younger man decided to kill his stepfather.
After the men parked at the big box store, Mesa-Cabrera reportedly pulled out a 9 mm Smith and Wesson handgun and shot Hernandez in the chest and head. The suspect then left the premises.
Officers with the Columbus Police Department responded to the store’s parking lot at about 6:20 p.m.
“Upon arrival, officers located a male victim lying on the ground with an apparent gunshot wound to the chest,” Captain Doug Molczyk said. “Officers immediately rendered aid until Columbus Fire Department medics arrived on scene.”
Hernandez was brought to a nearby hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Mesa-Cabrera turned himself in “[s]hortly after” the shooting, police said. The defendant said he did so because “he knew he was going to be arrested,” according to the affidavit.
Mesa-Cabrera was originally charged with first-degree murder and the use of a firearm to commit a felony. He reportedly had purchased the Smith and Wesson by legal means two weeks before the shooting.
