A 25 year old Omaha man already charged as an accessory in the shooting death of a truck driver last fall is now facing murder charges.
Michael Benson has been booked for second-degree murder for his role in the shooting death of James Womack at 60th and L last September. Benson was originally booked as an accessory to a felony on September 23 and had been in jail since that day.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine says they have been working with detectives since Benson's original arrest. "We've had more investigative tools that we've used and it's led us to the allegations that we have charged him with at this point and time."
The shooting happened around 4:30 p.m. during a traffic dispute. Authorities say Womack was walking back to his Hills Bros. semi-truck when he was shot. "Mr Womack was shot by somebody inside the car that Mr. Benson was situated in and we believe Mr. Benson was the shooter," Kleine says.
Kleine believes there was another person in the vehicle with Benson but they haven't been able to determine who that was. Surveillance video that captured the incident and witness interviews determined that the shots were fired from a brown pickup with tinted windows that fled the scene.