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LanCo Teen Sentenced Up To Life In Prison For Killing 23-Year-Old Man When He Was 14 Years Old

Elijahuwon A. Brown, now 17, has been sentenced after pleading guilty last October to shooting and killing 23-year-old Rolando Rivera when he was only 14 years old, according to court documents and the Lancaster District Attorney's office on Monday, April 22, 2024. 

Elijahuwon A. Brown (left) and the man he killed Rolando "Peanut" Nazir Rivera (right).

Elijahuwon A. Brown (left) and the man he killed Rolando "Peanut" Nazir Rivera (right).

Photo Credit: Lancaster County District Attorney's Office (left); Courtesy of GoFundMe "Funeral expenses for Rolando Rivera AKA Peanut" Tabatha Gallant

Brown confessed to shooting Rolando "Peanut" Nazir Rivera, 23, of the 200 block of Ruby Street in Lancaster, in the 500 block of Third Street around 9:45 p.m. on August 27, 2021. 

On Friday, April 19 he was sentenced to 32 ½ years to life in prison by  Judge Merrill Spahn.

Brown was seen on video surveillance in the area just before the shooting. Brown then walks west following Rivera, but on the opposite side of the street, as Daily Voice previously reported. Rivera then walks onto Third Street, but with Brown now running towards him, and approaching him from behind. Brown raises a gun and begins firing multiple rounds at Rivera, and continues firing as Rivera falls, police said. Brown then flees the scene on foot.

Rivera was found lying on the ground, unresponsive, and was pronounced dead at the scene. His cause of death was due to multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso, according to an autopsy on Aug. 30, 2021, according to the Lancaster County Coroner's Office.

Lancaster County Bureau of Police Detective Adam Flurry filed charges against Brown as an adult. He was arrested, and arraigned on September 2, 2021. He was denied bail due to the nature of the charges, per Pennsylvania state law, and has remained in the Lancaster County Prison ever since.

Brown originally of the 700 block of Manor Street, pleaded guilty to charges of criminal homicide, possession of firearm by a minor, and a person not to possess a firearm before Lancaster County Judge Merrill Spahn, who accepted the open plea on Oct. 10. Spahn will order sentence after a presentence investigation is completed. 

Since Brown was under the age of 15 at the time of the killing he did not face a life sentence but he is subject to a minimum mandatory 25 years behind bars. 

A GoFundMe to help Rolando "Peanut" Nazir Rivera's family raised over $3,000. Click here to read his full obituary. 

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