Olathe man pleads guilty in 2023 stabbing that killed one man and injured another
An Olathe man has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter after allegedly stabbing two men in Olathe in 2023, killing one.
Jesus Neri-Aguilar allegedly fatally stabbed Juan Jose Balleza-Ojeda, 26, on Nov. 11, 2023. During the same altercation, Jesus Neri-Aguilar also allegedly stabbed Alexis Tovar-Estrada, 28, who survived. Along with the manslaughter charge, Neri-Aguilar pleaded no contest on Feb. 14 to a charge of aggravated battery.
The double stabbing took place around 9:10 p.m. in the 500 block of North Marion Street, according to police and court records. Balleza-Ojeda was pronounced dead at the scene.
Court records indicate some type of argument took place before Neri-Aguilar allegedly attacked Balleza-Ojeda and Tovar-Estrada. An amended complaint filed against Neri-Aguilar on Feb. 17 describes Balleza-Ojeda’s death as taking place “upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion.”
Juan Jose Balleza-Ojeda moved from Mexico to the Kansas City area at the age of 16 and worked as a carpenter for his family’s construction company, according to an obituary shared online. Balleza-Ojeda loved singing, dancing, riding horses and spending time with his family, the obituary reads. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
Balleza-Ojeda’s family and friends remember him as a “happy go lucky kind of person that had a heart of gold,” according to his obituary.
“He was considered the life of the party, someone who always had something up his sleeve to prank somebody,” the obituary reads. “He was a kind and generous humble kind of man who was loved by so many.”
Balleza-Ojeda’s death was the seventh homicide reported in Olathe in 2023, according to data collected by The Star.
Neri-Aguilar has been held in the Johnson County Detention Center on a $1 million bail since Nov. 14, 2023. He will next appear in court on April 7 at 3:00 p.m. for sentencing.
