Prosecutor: Shooter killed Cedar Rapids man ‘in cold blood’

CEDAR RAPIDS — Cordal Lewis was running away when Kazius Childress fired 11 times — killing him in “cold blood,” a prosecutor said Wednesday during her opening statement in a murder trial.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Jennifer Erger said Childress made up his mind to kill Lewis on Jan. 27, 2022. Police found 9 mm shell casings outside a house in the 309 block of 31st Street Dr. SE in Cedar Rapids, and inside the house they found the gun used in the fatal shooting. The magazine was empty.

“He didn’t stop until every round was fired,” Erger told the jury.

Erger said the evidence will show that Lewis, 19, didn’t present any threat to Childress and was running away at the time. One bullet went through his forearm, and others went through his back and into his sternum and through the heart, which ended his life.

Childress, 22, is on trial this week in Linn County for first-degree murder and going armed with intent. Jury selection started Tuesday and testimony began Wednesday. The trial is expected to go into next week.

Erger said Childress initially told investigators he wasn’t at the scene. Later he admitted to being at the house, but said he didn’t pull the trigger.

During a second police interview, Childress said Lewis was robbed and a gun was pointed at Lewis. He indicated there was a “beef” between Lewis and the shooter. Childress described how Lewis was killed and admitted it wasn’t justified. It was during a robbery and another man, Kavon Johnson, killed him, Childress said.

Johnson was fatally shot the next day, Jan. 28, 2022 and Childress is charged with first-degree murder for his killing also.

Erger said Lewis’ shooting was captured on video, found later by the homeowner, and the jurors would be able to see it themselves. “Childress fired 11 times,” Erger said. “He acted in malice and it was premeditated, willful and deliberate murder.”

Adrian Haughton, Childress’ lawyer, said this isn’t a “whodunit type mystery” because jurors will be able to see what happened.

Haughton said jurors need to listen to what was said during the shooting incident. The prosecution would portray this as a robbery gone wrong, but that’s not the case, he said. The video will show Childress making efforts to get away, but Lewis kept moving toward him, Haughton said.

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Haughton told the jurors to pay attention to what they hear because that’s where the “details of this case lie.” Those details will lead to the correct verdict, he said.

One witness, Clee Barney, testified Wednesday. Barney was the homeowner at the address where the shooting happened. He lived with his brother, Cleo Barney, who is partially paralyzed, and they let a friend live with them at that time — Pierre Baugh, who is also charged in Lewis’ killing.

Barney said when he got home from work, Baugh, her friend, Qiuinyana Nare Jones, 24 — also charged in Lewis’ killing — and Childress were at the house. Later, Lewis arrived with Kavon Johnson, 22.

Barney went downstairs to clean up after his dog who had 12 puppies. He then heard Jones say “They are here” and the dogs started barking. He went upstairs and found Childress pointing a gun at Lewis. Barney didn’t know either man.

Childress told Lewis to hand over a chain he was wearing, and Johnson and Baugh were taking out money from Lewis’s pockets, Barney testified. Barney said he told them all to leave his house, but they wouldn’t listen.

Childress had a gun and he was the only one armed, Barney testified.

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They finally left Barney’s house, but Barney said he watched them in the front yard through a locked screen door. Barney said Childress continued to point his gun at Lewis and cursed him. Childress and Lewis kept arguing, but Lewis wasn’t being aggressive toward Childress. At one point were close enough for Lewis to grab the gun if he wanted, Barney noted.

Childress then started shooting at Lewis, Barney said. Childress was about 5 or 6 feet from Lewis and was pointing the gun at Lewis’ chest. Lewis started running away from Childress and Childress ran after him and continued to shoot at him.

Barney admitted he was convicted in federal court for having the gun used in the shooting, which was found in his house, because he’s a felon. He was sentenced to 43 months in federal prison and isn’t getting lesser time for his testimony.

Barney also said he unplugged the surveillance camera outside his home and didn’t know if it recorded what happened that day, but found out later it did. He didn’t initially turned it over to police because he was afraid.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks played the video during Barney’s testimony. The video shows Childress, wearing a red bandanna over his face, shooting at Lewis, who was running away. Before the shooting, the two of them and others are arguing and yelling, but it was difficult to hear what they were saying.

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