- The woman police say stabbed boy at Walmart was found "not responsible by reason of insanity" in 2025
- Court records show Noemi Guzman was facing four charges from 2024 attacks on her family in South Omaha and a church in Little Italy
- Court ordered mental health evaluations for Guzman
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Noemi Guzman – the woman who police say stabbed a 3-year-old boy at a Central Omaha Walmart on Tuesday – was found "not responsible by reason of insanity" in February 2025 after two attacks and allowed to remain in the community while receiving outpatient mental health treatment in Douglas County.
Guzman faced four charges stemming from two attacks that happened on the same Sunday morning – March 3, 2024. Police said she tried to light her father and stepmother on fire in their South Omaha home before breaking into the rectory at Saint Francis Cabrini Catholic Church in Little Italy.
Omaha attorney Kyle McGinn said someone being "not responsible by reason of insanity" are rare.
"It's challenging to prove, and it's not as though you walk freely out onto the street," McGinn said.
The court ordered a mental health evaluation for Guzman, which had to be completed within 90 days at the Lincoln Regional Center. That evaluation was presented to the court in June 2025.
Guzman was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The evaluation also found that she "remains a danger to herself or others."
Nissa Jones, who leads the criminal division of the Douglas County Attorney's Office that prosecuted the case, spoke about the evaluation's findings.
"The recommendation was made that she continued to reside in the community with family support, unless otherwise recommended by a treatment plan," Jones said.
Guzman could remain in the community if she followed the court's orders, which included receiving treatment from a court-ordered psychiatric provider at Douglas County Mental Health Outpatient Services.
"The law allows certain individuals who are found not responsible by reason of insanity, to remain in the community, and work through treatment on an outpatient basis," Jones said. "Not only does the court have to look at whether or not she's a threat to the community or herself, but they have to balance that with the least restrictive alternative for her treatment."
The next evaluation was scheduled to be due in May 2026 and would have been presented to the court in June 2026.
Questions remain unanswered, including how often Guzman was supposed to meet with her court-ordered psychiatric provider. Because that information is a medical record, it likely remains private.
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