Judge sets $1 million bail for suspect in Saturday night’s fatal Cedar Rapids shooting

CEDAR RAPIDS - A judge set a $1 million cash bail for a 16-year-old charged in adult court Monday in the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old in northeast Cedar Rapids, part of a feud between rival families more than two years in the making.

Kenyauta De'Andrice Vesey-Keith, 16, was charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder, willful injury causing serious injury and intimidation with a weapon. Keith is accused of shooting and killing Brandon Fitzgerald Johnson and seriously injuring Deaveon Gauldin, 16, on Saturday in the 1100 block of Maplewood Drive NE.

The criminal complaint states officers found Johnson's body after they responded to a report that a number of individuals were involved in a physical fight and shots had been fired. Johnson died from a gunshot wound to the chest. Most of those involved in the fight had left when police arrived.

Gauldin and other witnesses, who were later contacted and interviewed by police, 'positively identified” Vesey-Keith as being involved in the fight, as he went to a vehicle and retrieved a handgun, the complaint shows. Witnesses also saw Vesey-Keith threatening people at the scene with the gun before firing the shots that struck both victims, the complaint states.

Police Chief Wayne Jerman said Sunday that a brawl in the Lindale Mall food court on Feb. 13, 2014 started an ongoing rivalry between two families and their friends, which led to Saturday's deadly incident. Johnson also was involved in that food court fight, according to court records.

Jerman on Sunday said Saturday night's fight involved parents of some of those who were fighting. The fight broke out about 9:42 p.m. Saturday.

Vesey-Keith's arrest marks the second juvenile charged within six month with first-degree murder in Cedar Rapids. Robert Humbles was 14 years old when he was charged in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Aaron Richardson on Sept. 6. Humbles pleaded guilty last December to voluntary manslaughter, reckless use of a firearm resulting in serious injury and going armed with intent.

Humbles faces 25 years in prison, but a plea agreement was reached that he be prosecuted as a youthful offender, which means he will be placed in a youth residential treatment center or more restrictive facility, such as the Eldora State Training School for Boys, until he turns 18. His dispositional hearing was continued last Friday and will be reset in a few weeks.

Jerman said Sunday that police are still investigating the circumstances that led to Saturday night's fight and if social media played a role. Jerman added that the involvement of parents in the deadly incident is troubling.

Johnson's death marked the second gun-related fatality in Cedar Rapids this weekend. Senquez Jackson, 15, died Saturday, less than 24 hours after police responded to 1424 Bever Ave. SE for a shooting.

Jerman previously said Jackson's death doesn't appear to be the result of an 'intentional assault” and said investigators have spoken with the alleged shooter. The circumstances of Jackson's shooting and death remain under investigation.

Lee Hermiston contributed to this report.