A 33-year-old Omaha woman has been sentenced to prison for the 2023 shotgun death of her boyfriend. Douglas County District Judge Katie Benson handed down the sentence Wednesday, ordering Alyssa Roman to serve between six and eight years for manslaughter in the killing of 33-year-old Alan Critser.
Roman will receive credit for the 629 days she has already spent in custody. Manslaughter in Nebraska carries a maximum penalty of 20 years. Roman was originally charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony, but she reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in August.
She pleaded no contest to the reduced charge of manslaughter. Court records show Roman and Critser lived together at a home on North 55th Plaza, west of Mormon Bridge Road. Police were first alerted on December 29, 2023, when residents of a nearby home reported a woman with pink hair, wearing only a shirt, had forced her way inside around 5 p.m, the Omaha World-Herald reports.
They described her as frantic, claiming it was a home invasion. Responding officers traced the woman’s path back to the couple’s residence. There, according to an arrest warrant, they saw Roman fleeing out the back door before taking her into custody. The warrant described her as “displaying signs of excited delirium.” She was transported to Immanuel Medical Center for evaluation and later cleared.
Inside the house, investigators found evidence of a violent struggle. The warrant noted blood and other biological matter on the walls near the staircase landing. Critser was discovered in the primary upstairs bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head.
A shotgun was later recovered from a separate upstairs bedroom. Women’s clothing had been draped over the barrel of the weapon, according to police. During questioning at Omaha Police Headquarters, Roman reportedly told investigators that Critser “did not shoot himself and that they were the only two individuals present in the residence at the time the homicide occurred.”
The arrest affidavit further revealed that Roman admitted she and Critser had been alone in the house when the fatal shot was fired. Prosecutors accepted a plea deal earlier this year, citing the circumstances of the case and evidence presented during pretrial proceedings.
With Wednesday’s sentencing, Roman will serve her term in state prison, with parole eligibility after the minimum six years. The case brought closure to Critser’s family, though questions about the events leading up to his death remain. For now, Roman’s conviction ends a nearly two-year legal process stemming from a night of violence in north Omaha.