Competency evaluation causes another delay in Dexter Meeks slaying

CEDAR RAPIDS — It took nearly 10 years to make an arrest in the fatal shooting of Dexter Meeks and the attempt on his brother’s life in 2011, but now there will be further delay because the man accused of the crimes has asked for competency evaluation.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Chad Kepros suspended proceedings earlier this week for Mykel A. Roberts, 29, accused of first-degree murder, attempted murder and going armed with intent, until a competency evaluation is completed at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville.

Roberts’ lawyer, in the application for an evaluation, said she received information from Roberts’ family and friends, as well as medical records that indicate he has a history of mental illness.

Sara Smith, his public defender, said Roberts also has displayed erratic behavior while in jail, “which causes concerns” regarding his mental state. Roberts may not understand legal concepts necessary to make informed and voluntary decisions regarding his case, Smith added.

Roberts may have a mental impairment or disorder which may prevent him from understanding the charges, proceedings and effectively assisting in his defense, Smith said in the application.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Jordan Schier didn’t resist this request.

Roberts will have his competency evaluation virtually, according to court documents.

Dr. Jerome Greenfield, health services administrator at IMCC, said in a letter to Kepros the forensic psychiatric hospital at the prison isn’t seeing outside visitors, which includes defendants needing competency evaluations. All outpatient evaluations are conducted by video through the hospital’s and county jails’ secured networks to provide a secure and trustworthy connection that allows for a neutral location for the evaluation, he said.

Roberts, who was in a California prison a year ago, was charged in February for Meeks’ death.

A criminal complaint stated Roberts confessed to the June 25, 2011 fatal shooting of Dexter Meeks, 22, and to shooting his brother, Andrew, who was sitting next to him on the porch outside of Dexter’s apartment at 211 15th St. SE.

Roberts said he intended to kill Andrew Meeks that early morning instead of his brother, according to the complaint.

At the time of the shooting, Andrew Meeks was unable to identify his brother's shooter. He told police his brother had pushed him out of the line of fire that day.

Though police pursued tips and lines of inquiry, investigators had run out of leads, and the case went cold by 2012.

In 2017, Andrew Meeks was killed July 2, when he and another man were shot inside a car at the westside Walmart. Quarzone Martin, 28, of Cedar Rapids man was convicted in that slaying, though the conviction was overturned last summer by the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Last year, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department in Modesto, Calif., called Cedar Rapids police cold case investigator Matt Denlinger, saying an inmate, Roberts, had information about a 2011 murder in Cedar Rapids but was uncertain of the victim's name.

According to court documents, Roberts was at Wasco State Prison in Wasco, Calif.

In April of last year, Roberts provided investigators a complete, detailed confession that supported and corroborated many details of the shooting that killed Dexter Meeks, according to court documents.

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