Double homicide trial for man accused of killing baby sitters will start next month

A trial for a man accused of killing two people while they were baby-sitting in a Cedar Rapids home in 2014 still is on track to start next month in Linn County District Court.

Kendu R. Petties, 32, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. Petties is accused of fatally shooting Quintrell Perkins, 22, and Sierrah Simmons, 20, on April 2, 2014.

Sixth Judicial District Senior Judge Robert Sosalla and the lawyers confirmed during a hearing Friday the trial would start on Feb. 13 and is expected to last two weeks.

Sosalla consolidated the murder charges with the conspiracy charge — meaning Petties will be tried on all three charges in the February trial. The murder and the conspiracy charge had been filed separately.

First Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks argued to keep the conspiracy charge separate, saying the nature of the allegations was different from the murder charges, and if Petties was convicted on the murder charges, he would likely drop the other charge.

The murder charges accuse Petties of being the shooter who fired the bullets that struck Perkins and Simmons inside the home.  

The conspiracy charge accuses him of conspiring with others to shoot inside the home with the intent to provoke fear or intimidation of the occupants.

Sara Smith, Petties' lawyer, argued all charges should be tried together because they stem from the same incident.

Sosalla consolidated the cases for judicial efficiency — both involve the same incident and have basically the same witnesses.  

A criminal complaint shows Petties fired multiple shots into a house at 1708 Fourth Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids on April 2, 2014. Perkins and Simmons were found dead inside the house when police responded that night.

A family friend told The Gazette after Petties was charged that Perkins and Simmons were at the house baby-sitting Perkins' younger siblings that night.

Perkins and Simmons were not the targets that night, the complaint shows. Petties had planned to 'shoot and kill two other subjects inside the residence,' but they were not home. Petties fired a full, 10-round magazine of bullets into the house, as well as a single round that was in the chamber of the gun. Two of the bullets hit Perkins and Simmons, who were sitting in the living room.

Witnesses verified Petties was the shooter, and he admitted to more than one person that he fired the shots, the complaint shows.

A warrant in the double homicide was issued Aug. 14, 2014, and U.S. Marshals tracked Petties to Mesa, Ariz., where he was found Aug. 21, 2015, living with a girlfriend. He then was extradited to Cedar Rapids.

Petties has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He remains in the Linn County Jail on a $2 million bail.

If convicted of two first-degree murder charges, he faces two life sentences without parole. l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com