Marion man will serve up to 20 years for attempting to kill man last year in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Marion man was sentenced this week to up to 20 years in prison for attempting in 2023 to shoot a man but instead striking the man’s mother, who was sitting with her son on a balcony.

Dewayne Lamar Hunt, 22, originally charged with attempted murder, pleaded to willful injury resulting in serious injury, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, going armed with intent and possession of a firearm or offensive weapon by a felon, all felonies, and assault with intent to inflict a serious injury, a serious misdemeanor.

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Cedar Rapids police responded Aug. 12, 2023, to a shots fired report in the 3000 block of Pioneer Avenue SE, where they found a woman, Danielle Steele, with gunshot wounds in both of her legs, according to a criminal complaint.

First Assistant Linn County Attorney Monica Slaughter previously said Steele had been sitting outside on a balcony with her son, Mykel Lewis, when the shots were fired. Investigators believed Hunt was attempting to kill Lewis but the shots struck Steele.

Two witnesses identified Hunt as the shooter and said he fled the scene in a gray or silver Dodge Durango.

Police located the sport utility vehicle nearby, but the driver had escaped, the complaint stated. Hunt was a passenger, and police found a firearm that matched the shell casings at the scene. The gun was found behind the seat where Hunt had been sitting, according to the complaint.

Hunt was on pretrial release in a pending first-degree robbery case at the time. He was eventually acquitted of those charges.

For this case, Sixth Judicial District Judge Justin Lightfoot on Monday ran two of the sentences concurrently and others consecutively to each other for a total sentence of up to 20 years. Hunt must serve a mandatory minimum of five years on the intimidation with a dangerous weapon conviction before being eligible for parole.

Lighfoot, in his sentencing order, said that for the consecutive sentences, he considered Hunt’s previous gun-related convictions, the “extremely” aggravating nature of the offenses and the fact that Hunt committed them while being on pretrial release.

The judge also extended protective orders against Hunt, to prevent him from contacting the victims, for five years.

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