An Atlantic man faces more than 25 years in prison after being found guilty Thursday afternoon on several charges by a Pottawattamie County jury.
40 year old Daniel Jensen was found guilty on charges of Attempt to Commit Murder, a Class B Felony; Willful Injury Causing Bodily Injury, a Class D Felony; Felon in Possession of a Firearm, a Class D Felony and Going Armed With Intent, a Class D Felony.
Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilbur says Jensen was accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend, 33 year old Rikki Aherns, on July 27, 2026, while driving alongside her on westbound I-80 in Council Bluffs. Jensen’s criminal trial began on Tuesday, October 27th, and was personally prosecuted by Pottawattamie County Attorney
Matt Wilber with assistance from Assistant County Attorney James Hansen. Closing arguments
finished late morning Thursday and the jury returned a guilty verdict on all four counts after
deliberating for approximately 90 minutes.
On July 20th, Jensen was served with a protection order against him directing him to stay
away from Aherns. Just seven days later, on July 27th, Aherns was driving from a nail appointment in Council Bluffs over to Omaha when Jensen drove up alongside her on westbound I-80 near the 24th Street bridge. Aherns saw the defendant and reached for her phone to call for help. As she put the phone up to her face, Jensen fired five shots. One of those shots struck the driver’s door of Aherns Nissan Sentra, two shots hit and destroyed the phone that she was holding by her face, and two shots struck Aherns in the shoulder. Council Bluffs and
DOT traffic cameras, as well as pictures from automatic license plate reader cameras, were instrumental in prosecuting this case.
Chief Judge Craig Dreismeier presided over the trial and has set sentencing for 9:00 a.m. on December 10, 2026, on the Fourth Floor of the Pottawattamie County Courthouse. Jensen faces a 25-year prison sentence with a mandatory minimum of 17.5 years to be served before he will be eligible for parole on the Attempted Murder count, as well as potential 5-year prison sentences on each of the remaining counts.
