04-04-2025
Topeka man convicted of murder hours after jurors viewed security camera footage
Two acquaintances pulled Jackson E. 'Jack' Danner out of his Topeka home against his will, threw him to the ground and shot him to death in a security camera video viewed the morning of April 4 by a Shawnee County District Court jury.
Jurors deliberated about 80 minutes later that morning before convicting Tremale M. Serrano, 30, of two crimes linked to Danner's death.
Serrano was found guilty on the fifth day of his trial of one count each of intentional second-degree murder and intentional and premeditated first-degree murder in the killing early Oct. 15, 2023, of Danner, 23, who was fatally shot in the front yard of the house he owned in the 1600 block of S.W. 21st.
Serrano's sentencing date hadn't yet been set.
Serrano's brother, 33-year-old Aaron A. Serrano, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter last May as part of a deal in which he agreed to testify against Tremale Serrano, court records show.
A sentencing date for Aaron Serrano hasn't yet been set. He is scheduled to appear April 10 at a scheduling conference in the case.
Jack Danner, a graduate of Holton High School, lived alone and worked as a roofer for Topeka-based Midwest Coating Inc., where Aaron Serrano had formerly been employed, Danner's father, Brett Danner, testified at Tremale Serrano's trial.
Shawnee County deputy district attorney Brandon Farnham said April 1 in opening statements that the Serrano brothers and two women, Tiffany Alexander and Marisa Flores, were visiting Danner's home when he was killed.
Farnham said Danner confronted Tremale Serrano at gunpoint inside the house, demanding that he return money Danner knew Tremale Serrano had taken from Aaron Serrano. The gun was then put away.
Tremale Serrano apparently subsequently gained possession of the handgun, and Jack Danner was yelling, "Give me back my gun," not long before he was fatally shot, Farnham said.
On Friday morning, Farnham showed jurors security camera video taken from just outside the house that he said showed Danner and the Serrano brothers from the side as the brothers pulled Danner outside the house's front door against his will. Farnham said Aaron Serrano threw him to the ground and Tremale Serrano shot him to death.
Danner was barefoot and 'highly intoxicated' at the time, Farnham said.
The gun was never found, he said.
Tremale Serrano wrote his sister a letter asking for help after he was charged with the killing of Danner, Farnham said during opening arguments.
He said Serrano asked his sister to tell Alexander and Flores to either not show up to court, say they didn't remember what happened or say police "got the wrong guy" and someone else must have killed Danner.
Farnham said authorities intercepted Serrano's letter, which included a statement that 'These girls are my chance to come home.'
While both Alexander and Flores testified at Tremale Serrano's trial, Farnham suggested that neither said much.
Words had been exchanged April 1 during a break in proceedings between people sitting on the side of the courtroom gallery reserved for supporters of the defendant and others sitting on the side of the gallery reserved for supporters of the prosecution.
Seven uniformed officers from the Shawnee County Sheriff's Office and Shawnee County Department of Corrections stood by in the courtroom to provide security as District Judge Bill Ossmann read the verdict.
Afterward, family members and friends of Danner's tearfully embraced each other in the courthouse hallway.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@ or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka man convicted in 2023 murder of Jackson Danner
