Jury selection is underway in murder trial for man accused in Taboo shooting

CEDAR RAPIDS — Jury selection started Tuesday in the first-degree murder trial of Dimione Walker, who is charged with fatally shooting a man on April 10 inside the Taboo Nightclub & Lounge.

Testimony likely won’t begin until Thursday in Linn County District Court, prosecutors said Monday.

Walker, 29, of Coralville, is accused of killing Michael Valentine, 25, at the downtown Cedar Rapids club. Another man, Timothy Rush, 32, of Cedar Rapids, is charged with killing Nicole Owens, 35, and Marvin L. Cox, 31. Ten people were also injured in the shooting.

Walker is charged with first-degree murder, going armed with intent and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

One of Walker’s original charges, willful injury, was dismissed by the prosecution Monday because the victim he was accused of shooting and injuring — Shango Johnson — wouldn’t cooperate with authorities and the charge couldn’t be proven without his testimony, Assistant Linn County Attorney Rena Schulte said.

Walker plans to claim self-defense or in defense of others at trial.

Owens — Rush’s girlfriend and mother of his 1-year-old child — and Valentine were at the club that night celebrating a birthday of a mutual friend, La’Tazia Mac. Mac told The Gazette after Rush was arrested that she had known Valentine since the eighth grade and Owens most of her life.

According to a motion filed last month by Walker’s lawyers, there may have been previous shooting incidents between Walker and Valentine. A judge, in an order leading up to the trial, did allow the defense to subpoena police reports about a March shooting outside Spare Time Entertainment Center. According to the motion, the incident involved Walker and Valentine.

Earlier, a judge denied a motion to dismiss the first-degree murder charge against Walker. His lawyers claimed his right to a speedy trial was violated because his trial did not take place within 90 days of the trial information being filed.

Walker’s trial information was filed in May, before he had been extradited to Iowa. The prosecution filed a good cause motion, which was approved by a judge in June. It detailed the difficulties with extraditing Walker from Illinois after he was arrested by U.S. marshals near Chicago about a week after the shooting.

Walker was wanted in Illinois for parole violations for possession of a weapon. Illinois made him serve his time in Illinois and would not extradite Walker to Iowa, said Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks, who testified during a hearing.

A trial for Rush is set for March 28. He is charged with two counts of second-degree murder; two counts of willful injury causing serious injury; two counts of reckless use of a firearm causing serious injury; three counts of willful injury causing bodily injury; three counts of reckless use of a firearm causing bodily injury; one count of intimidation with a dangerous weapon; and one count of possession of a firearm as a felon.

Gazette reporter Trish Mehaffey will provide live coverage of the trial from the courtroom when testimony begins. The trial is expected to go into next week.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com