A 14-year-old Omaha boy who was cleaning a 9 mm handgun in his bedroom unintentionally killed his 15-year-old friend Wednesday night, officials said Thursday.
Jesus Jimenez Solis was charged Thursday with manslaughter in Douglas County Juvenile Court. Jimenez Solis did not intend to kill his friend, Sylas Lieb, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said.
Jimenez Solis, who is in the eighth grade at Lewis and Clark Middle School, will be held at the Douglas County Youth Center, Juvenile Court Judge Vernon Daniels ruled.
Lieb, a sophomore at Central High School, was shot at his friend’s home, 1405 N. 35th St., shortly before 7:15 p.m. Omaha police officers who were called to the house declared him dead at the scene.
The teens had been smoking marijuana at the home, Kleine said.
They were both in Jimenez Solis’ bedroom when he was holding the handgun in his lap and wiping it or cleaning it with a blanket, a prosecutor said. The gun went off and hit Lieb.
Jimenez Solis told police that the shooting was an accident and that he had found the gun at a laundromat about a week ago. He also told officers he was affiliated with a gang.
Others who spoke to police after the incident said Jimenez Solis had been pointing the firearm at people for the past week.
Kleine said the shooting was “troubling” because the 14-year-old should not have had access to a firearm. The investigation is ongoing, he said.
Kleine said he hopes to determine whether adults were nearby when the shooting occurred.
In August, Jimenez Solis was put on probation for five months because of a truancy charge. The probation was extended in January for an additional 90 days, until April 24, because he did not attend educational programming, which was a requirement of his initial probation.
Jimenez Solis successfully completed diversion on a theft charge, a prosecutor said.
A defense attorney said that Jimenez Solis had not had any contact with law enforcement while on probation and that he was not a serious threat to the community.
Jimenez Solis’ mother, Maria Solis, cried at the beginning of the Thursday afternoon hearing. She held the arm of her son, who was sitting next to her. At one point, when one of the boy’s younger siblings became fussy, Judge Daniels motioned for another sibling to bring the little girl to Solis. When the girl, a toddler, looked at Jimenez Solis, he began to cry and wiped his face with his sleeves.
Solis declined to comment after the hearing.
Streamers, balloons, flowers and stuffed animals were strung around a pole outside the home where the shooting occurred.
“Rest in Paradise Sylas!” one of the balloons read.

"Rest in Paradise Sylas" was written on a balloon that is part of a memorial outside of 1405 N. 35th St., where Sylas Lieb was fatally shot.
Many family members wrote condolences on social media, saying Lieb was too young to die. They also referenced Lieb’s mother, Crystal Lieb, who died in July 2018 in a two-vehicle crash near Tekamah.
“Lord welcome him with open arms, to see his mother again and hear her voice,” a relative wrote on Facebook. “I know he’s so happy to be by her side again.”
Thursday morning, Central High School Principal Ed Bennett sent an email to school families addressing Lieb’s death. Counselors were available for students Thursday, he said.
“We are deeply saddened by the death of one of our Central High students,” he wrote. “We extend our heartfelt sympathy to his family and are grieving as a school community.”
Lieb had attended Franklin Elementary School and Lewis and Clark Middle School, an Omaha Public Schools spokesman said.
Notable crime news of 2020
Read about some of the biggest and strangest crime stories in Nebraska and western Iowa.
Two former Husker players now charged with first-degree sexual assault texted each other about telling the truth about their sexual encounter with a woman, according to a court document. Read more
Authorities were able to arrest a man in connection with the December 2000 slaying of his neighbor thanks to advancements in DNA testing. Read more
A former Nebraska defensive back was sentenced in Lancaster County Court to five years' probation after pleading no contest to resisting arrest during a traffic stop. Read more
Dustin Moheng was fatally shot after a night involving arguments, drug use, a firearm transaction and a search on Snapchat for Moheng’s whereabouts. Read more
A surveillance camera recorded a young man painting a swastika on the front door of the South Street Temple at 2061 S. 20th St. A swastika also was painted on the synagogue’s steps. Lincoln police are investigating the incident as a hate crime. Read more
A 17-year-old girl was kidnapped in early 2019, taken to a hotel and forced to pose for nude photos that would be used as sex advertisements. Read more
The officers were identified earlier as Joshua Ames, Jacob Sunderman and Matthew Ajuoga. Ames was shot in the leg during a New Years Eve incident and was later taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released. Read more
Since the beginning of 2014, at least 56 certified Nebraska educators were caught having inappropriate communication or sexual contact with students. Their misconduct ranged from sexual intercourse with a student to dinner and a movie with a student. Read more
A Marine from Nebraska who tried to enter Offutt Air Force Base last May with firearms and ammunition in his truck was sentenced to three years in a military prison. Read more
Richard L. McIntyre, 57, was run over last Feb. 3 by a Ford F-250 pickup truck. He had been walking to get a pack of cigarettes near 84th and Q Streets. The pickup driver, 44-year-old Michael W. Sullivan, drove off and didn’t turn himself in until nine days later. Read more
Seven years after spending some time in jail with Joshua Keadle, Cory Pfeifer saw a news report about Keadle being charged with murder in the disappearance and death of Peru State College student Tyler Thomas. The report prompted Pfeifer, now a truck driver from Plattsmouth, to go to the Nemaha County Attorney’s Office and relate something Keadle told him in that county’s jail about the missing student. Read more
An Omaha man was accused of firing multiple shots at a Millard Hy-Vee. An off-duty deputy police chief and a shopper tackled him to the ground. No one was wounded by the gunfire. Read more
A 14-year-old girl with no permit or licence got behind the wheel of a pickup truck and fatally struck a motorcyclist, Omaha police said. Read more
A 14-year-old Omaha boy was charged with manslaughter in Juvenile Court after authorities said he accidentally shot and killed his friend while cleaning a gun. Read more
A 12-year-old and 14-year-old stole and wrecked multiple cars over the course of a month and were repeatedly released from custody, leaving car dealers and prosecutors furious. Read more
The Nebraska Board of Pardons unanimously denied a pardon for Caril Ann Fugate, now Caril Ann Clair, the girlfriend of mass murderer Charlie Starkweather. Read more
A Nebraska pharmacist pleaded guilty to conspiring with a Maryland drug dealer to firebomb a competing pharmacy in Auburn. Read more
A shoplifter made it easy for police to find him when he filled out a job application at the store he stole from. Read more
A former local TV meteorologist was charged with making terroristic threats against the Douglas County health director. He was allegedly angry about the measures taken to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Read more
Dodge County Attorney Oliver Glass pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, but his legal problems may not be over. Read more
Joshua Keadle was sentenced to 71 years to life in prison for the slaying of Peru State student Tyler Thomas, who disappeared 10 years ago. Read more
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced that he would not charge the bar owner who fatally shot protester James Scurlock, but a special prosecutor has since taken up the case and will present the evidence to a grand jury. Read more
A Carter Lake man was sentenced to prison for an attempted assault in which he used some unconventional weapons for modern times: a hatchet and a bow and arrow. Read more
An Omaha man admitted to killing a convicted sex offender, saying he feared that the man would harm more children. Read more
An Omaha woman was charged with second-degree murder after killing her husband on Interstate 80. She says she acted in self-defense. Read more
alia.conley@owh.com, 402-444-1068