FAIRBURY, NE — A southeast Nebraska man will spend several decades behind bars for killing a two-year-old boy.

Judge Vicky Johnson sentenced 19-year-old Jake Gonzalez to 70-80 years in prison for child abuse resulting in death during a hearing in Jefferson County District Court on Thursday. She also sentenced him to 20 years for attempted assault and three years for terroristic threats. Those sentences will run concurrently to the most severe sentence, meaning they will run at the same time.

Johnson said she strongly considered handing down a life sentence, which was the maximum penalty available. She said the only mitigating factor for Gonzalez was his age. He was 17 when charged with assault and 18 when charged with child abuse resulting in death.

A jury convicted Gonzalez of abuse and terroristic threats during a trial in October. Those charges back to February 2021, when Gonzalez was accused of fatally injuring two-year-old Hollen Siedschlag and threatening the child’s mother. The assault charge dates back to an incident from May 2020, when Gonzalez was accused of shooting Lance Powers multiple times in Fairbury. Powers survived but required a medical helicopter flight to Lincoln to care for his wounds.

Hollen’s grandfather, Danny Meyer, talked with NCN after the sentencing.

“I think it could have been a little more, but I think it was a good sentence. I hope it progresses down the road and doesn’t get overturned or anything like that.”

He said the family has dealt with horrible grief since Hollen’s death.

“It’s been devastating for our family. We lost a precious part of our life.”

Meyer said he doesn’t ever want to see something like this happen to someone else.