Man charged with shooting a UK student gets sentenced for past shooting, road rage case

A Lexington man at the center of a shooting investigation on University Avenue which left 11 University of Kentucky students injured has been sentenced for charges related to a previous shooting and road rage incident that injured two people in 2020.

Jason Almanza-Arroyo, 19, was sentenced last week to a total of 10 years for reduced charges he agreed to as part of a plea deal in August.

Almanza-Arroyo pleaded guilty to two charges of second-degree assault and two charges of first-degree wanton endangerment. He received a sentence of five years for both charges of second-degree assault to run consecutively for a total of 10 years, according to court documents. For the charges of wanton endangerment, he received two years set to run concurrently with the other 10 years.

He is also required to pay $12,166 in restitution, according to court records.

He was originally charged with two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for the incident, which took place in April 2020, according to court records.

At that time, Lexington police were dispatched to Boardwalk and Park Place for a report of a car accident. Police learned the victims had been involved in the shooting with Almanza-Arroyo and Juan Guerro-Zendejas, a co-defendant in the case.

One of the victims told police he got into a verbal altercation with the suspects earlier that day and spotted the suspects getting into a black Chevy Tahoe at a house, according to court records. After the victims drove away, they noticed a black Chevy Tahoe trailing behind them.

Court documents say the victims attempted to lose Almanza-Arroyo and Guerrero-Zendejas, but they pulled up along the driver’s side of the victims’ vehicle and began shooting towards them. During the shooting, the suspects rammed their Tahoe into the victims’ vehicle, causing it to hit a light pole, a tree and a ditch, according to court documents.

The victims awoke to serious injuries and they were trapped inside the vehicle, according to court records.

Almanza-Arroyo and Guerrero-Zendejas were arrested approximately two months later but were later released from jail after they each posted bond, according to court records.

Guerro-Zendejas was charged with two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. His case is still pending and is scheduled for a hearing in January.

Both Almanza-Arroyo and Guerrero-Zendejas also have open charges relating to a recent shooting at an off-campus party near UK, which left 11 students injured. Almanza-Arroyo faces 10 charges of second-degree assault in this case.

He also is charged with first-degree wanton endangerment, second-degree disorderly conduct, alcohol intoxication in a public place, and third-degree assault of a peace officer with non-communicable bodily fluid, according to court records. The case is awaiting an indictment decision by the grand jury.

Guerro-Zendejas faces charges of tampering with physical evidence, alcohol intoxication in a public place, first-degree fleeing or evading police, second-degree fleeing or evading police and resisting arrest. His case is also awaiting a decision from a grand jury.