Cedar Rapids teen sentenced to 17 years for shooting man in back

CEDAR RAPIDS — A 17-year-old from Cedar Rapids, who shot another man in the back while the victim was painting his truck in 2022, was sentenced this week to 17 years in prison.

Amari Nytez-Anthony McCray, who was 16 at the time of the shooting and originally was charged with attempted murder, previously pleaded guilty to lesser charges of willful injury, going armed with intent and intimidation with a dangerous weapon, all felonies. He also pleaded to use of a dangerous weapon, an aggravated misdemeanor.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Kevin McKeever on Tuesday ran the sentences consecutively for 17 years in prison.

McCray shot Yadier Primero-Marquez, 29, in his back without any words exchanged between the two in the 2200 block of C Street SW. Primero-Marquez said he didn’t know McCray.

The bullet entered Primero-Marquez’s back and exited through his chest, according to a criminal complaint. He survived but had serious injuries from the .40 caliber handgun, which was found in a safe during a police search of McCray’s residence.

Police identified McCray through witnesses and surveillance video, according to court documents. Investigators also found a shell casing at the scene. The gun was test- fired and that casing matched the casing from the scene, police said.

During the investigation, police developed a likely path McCray took walking to the scene and back to his residence. They used video surveillance and information from Cedar Rapids firefighters, who were responding to a medical call nearby, according to a search warrant affidavit.

The video showed a Black male, later identified as McCray, wearing a dark-colored hoodie with writing on the front, dark pants and shoes as he walked past Primero-Marquez’s residence and toward the Hawthorne Hills Apartments.

The teen then crossed C Street SW toward Deborah Drive SW, but stopped and turned around and walked back toward the victim’s residence, the affidavit stated. A gunshot is heard on the video, and then McCray is seen running southbound away from the scene.

Firefighters out on the medical call saw the teen headed into an apartment complex on Aossey Lane SW.

Police identified McCray’s address through the Cedar Rapids Community School District’s records, according to the affidavit. Police also were familiar with his residence because they encountered McCray the month before, on Sept. 10, 2022, when he was accused of threatening to shoot a person who filed a trespassing complaint.

McCray admitted that he followed that path home, but denied shooting the victim.

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