Olathe man sentenced in killing of one man, injuring another ‘in the heat of passion’
An Olathe man was sentenced Monday to 92 months in prison in the stabbing of two men during an argument in 2023, killing one.
Jesus Neri-Aguilar pleaded guilty in February to voluntary manslaughter, and no contest to aggravated battery. Neri-Aguilar was accused of fatally stabbing Juan Jose Balleza-Ojeda, 26, in Olathe on Nov. 11, 2023; he also was accused of stabbing Alexis Tovar-Estrada, 28, who survived.
The fatal incident took place around 9:10 p.m. in the 500 block of North Marion Street. According to court records, Neri-Aguilar attacked the other two men after a heated argument took place.
.An amended complaint filed against Neri-Aguilar in Johnson County court Feb. 17 indicates that he went after Balleza-Ojeda and Tovar-Estrada “upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion.”
Balleza-Ojeda’s death was the seventh homicide reported in Olathe in 2023, according to data collected by The Star. Loved ones remember the 26-year-old, who grew up in Mexico City and worked as a carpenter for his family’s Kansas City construction company, as “a happy go lucky kind of person that had a heart of gold.”
Balleza-Ojeda is survived by his wife and daughter, according to an obituary shared online.
