Prosecutors reveal new details about May killing of security guard outside Omaha bar
Omaha NE June 11, 2023
It took just 50 seconds for Keloni Jones to draw a handgun from her purse and fire a single bullet through the heart of a 23-year-old security guard, according to Friday testimony from an Omaha police detective.
On Friday, 24-year-old Jones appeared in court for a preliminary hearing on charges of second-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony in the killing of Gom Gout in the early-morning hours of May 7. Prosecutors allege that Jones shot and killed Gout as he tried to diffuse a fight while working security at a downtown bar.
According to testimony from Omaha Police Homicide Detective Chad Frodyma:
For Jones, the night out began about 10:30 p.m. She went with her sister and a handful of friends to Moe and Curley’s Pub, a karaoke bar near 10th Street and Capitol Avenue.
At about 12:30 a.m., Jones and the rest of her group left the bar as a large disturbance formed in the street outside. About 20 minutes later, Jones and a friend are seen on security cameras walking back toward the bar. Jones later told police that her friend had left her purse at the bar, and she offered to go back to look for it.
As the two walk down the street, a group of about five or six women begin to follow them. Multiple fights broke out in front of the bar, with one woman taking Jones to the ground, holding her by the hair and repeatedly kicking and punching her in the head and body.
Jones was left on the ground after the fight. Gout, who was inside the bar, came outside and successfully broke up another fight nearby. He was dressed in a bright red shirt with “SECURITY” written on the back.
A group of people, including the woman who assaulted Jones, had gathered in a group about 20 feet away from the bar’s entrance. Gout was speaking with the women when Jones got up off the ground, walked toward the bar entrance and pulled a Glock 19 handgun out of her purse.
Noticing that Jones had a gun, Gout slowly approached with an outstretched hand in what Frodyma described as a “calm down movement.” He attempted to block her movement as she stepped away from him to look at the group of women.
Frodyma testified that Jones then punched Gout in the arm and placed her hand on his chest to push him away. She had the gun in her right hand, pointed upward, before she pointed it at Gout’s chest and pulled the trigger.
Gout attempted to run away and made it a step or two before collapsing on the ground. The bullet pierced his heart and lung, and he was declared dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
The entire incident, from the moment Jones was assaulted to the moment Gout was shot, lasted less than two minutes. Uniformed officers, who had been provided a description of Jones, picked her up a few hours later at 24th and Dodge Streets.
Surveillance footage from the bar captured the assault and shooting on camera.
Jones’ defense attorney, Nissa Jones, argued that the assault had left her client traumatized, confused and afraid, leading her to believe that Gout was a threat. She said Keloni Jones has a legitimate self-defense claim, and there is no evidence to suggest that she knew Gout was a security guard.
Nissa Jones also asked Douglas County Court Judge Stephanie Shearer to reconsider setting bail for Keloni Jones, who has been held in custody without bail since the killing. Nissa Jones requested bail to be set at 10% of $500,000.
Shearer declined to set a bail amount and bound Keloni Jones’ case over to District Court for trial.
