Second man faces attempted murder charge in July 1 shooting in NW Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — A second man faces an attempted murder charge in connection with a July 1 shooting in northwest Cedar Rapids.

Joe V.L. Williams, 21, was charged with three additional felonies Thursday — intimidation with a dangerous weapon, willful injury and assault — and carrying weapons, a misdemeanor. Criminal complaints give both a Cedar Rapids and an Altoona address for Williams.

Williams and his co-defendant, Cody Michael Adkins, 20, of Cedar Rapids, are accused of shooting at Archibald Ledsinger and Darian Boyd, who were driving in the 1200 block of 10th St. NW, according to a criminal complaint. Boyd was seriously injured.

Adkins was arrested in November after investigators connected him to a Veo share ride scooter and shell casings found near the scene of the shooting. The scooter was rented under Williams’ name.

The criminal complaint said the four men exchanged words after Williams and Adkins walked in front of the vehicle Ledsinger and Boyd were driving before Williams and Adkins “opened fire.”

The 14 shell casings found at the scene indicated two guns were involved, The Gazette previously reported.

On Sept. 24, officers stopped a vehicle registered to and driven by Adkins, with Williams as his passenger, and found two firearms in the vehicle, the complaint states.

The guns were linked to the July 1 shooting through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, investigators said.

If convicted of attempted murder, Williams and Adkins face up to 25 years in prison.

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