• Andrew Wegley – Sep 6, 2023 – Lincoln Journal Star

A Lincoln man who was rushed to a local hospital with a brain bleed that required emergency surgery after police found him unconscious with a head injury following an assault on a downtown street corner Aug. 27 died on Tuesday, according to police.

James Baylor was 55 years old.

Medical examiners will conduct an autopsy Wednesday to determine the exact cause of his death, Lincoln Police Capt. Todd Kocian said.

Police have already arrested the 22-year-old Lincoln man allegedly responsible for the attack that preceded Baylor’s death.

Rodriguez Alvis

Prosecutors charged Angel Rodriguez Alvis last week with first-degree assault, a felony punishable by up to 50 years in prison. He paid $50,000 to bond out of jail Aug. 30, according to court filings.

It’s unclear if prosecutors intend to file enhanced charges against Rodriguez Alvis. Deputy County Attorney Chris Turner declined to comment Wednesday.

Kocian said investigators planned to meet with Baylor’s family before meeting with prosecutors to determine whether Rodriguez Alvis will be charged with additional crimes.

Baylor’s death comes nine days after police were dispatched to the southeast corner of 13th and P streets shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday on a report of a man who was “bleeding from the head and barely breathing,” Lincoln Police Officer Brian Gruber said in the probable cause statement for Rodriguez Alvis’ arrest, filed last week in Lancaster County Court.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue crews took the man, later identified as Baylor, to Bryan West Campus with a “significant brain bleed” that required immediate emergency surgery, Gruber said in the statement.

A 39-year-old man who witnessed the alleged attack told police that he saw a man wearing a plaid shirt get out of a green station wagon-style vehicle and approach Baylor, punching him in the face a single time, Gruber said.

Two women who had been with the man in plaid — later identified as Rodriguez Alvis — were trying to stop the 22-year-old from punching Baylor, the witness told police.

Baylor fell backward after Rodriguez Alvis punched him and struck his head on the sidewalk. Rodriguez Alvis and his two acquaintances, who were not identified in court records, got back into the station wagon and drove away, Gruber said.

The witness photographed the car — a 1992 Subaru — before it fled north on 13th Street. 

Less than an hour later, Rodriguez Alvis drove the distinct car back to the alleged crime scene, where police recognized it and followed it, Gruber said.

Police pulled Alvis over near 18th and O streets at about 1:45 a.m. Aug. 27 and took him into custody. He was the only one in the station wagon when police stopped it, Gruber said.

Investigators believe Rodriguez Alvis punched Baylor for purportedly talking to the women the 22-year-old was with that day, according to court filings.

He is scheduled to make his next court appearance later this month.

If pathologists determine Baylor’s death is the result of a homicide, it would mark Lincoln’s seventh suspected killing of 2023 — a total that does not include the death of a 2-month-old in March and a 46-year-old man last month, both of which remain under investigation.

Arrest made in downtown Lincoln assault that left man in critical condition

• Sarah Lawlor – Aug 27, 2023 – Lincoln Journal Star

Lincoln Police made an arrest in an assault in downtown Lincoln early Sunday that left a Lincoln man with life-threatening injuries.

Police responded to reports of an assault on the southeast corner of North 13th and P streets on Sunday shortly after 1 a.m.

Officers found a 55-year-old man unconscious with a head injury. He was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, including a “significant brain bleed that required emergency surgery,” Lincoln Police said in a Sunday news release. The man is in critical condition.

Police determined that three people got out of a vehicle and approached the victim. They punched him in the face, causing him to fall and hit his head on the sidewalk.

The individuals got back in their vehicle and drove away. Officers later located the vehicle at 18th and O streets at about 1:45 a.m.