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Marion teen faces up to 50 years in plea over killing teenager Michael McCune
He was charged with other teens in the fatal 2023 shooting in Cedar Rapids
Jan. 6, 2025 3:08 pm
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CEDAR RAPIDS — A Marion teen pleaded last week to shooting and conspiring with three others to kill 16-year-old Michael Alexander McCune on Feb. 18, 2023.
Baynon Berry, known as “BJ,” now 17, originally charged with first-degree murder and other charges as an adult, pleaded last Friday to second-degree murder and faces up to 50 years in prison.
During the plea, he admitted going to the Tan Tara apartments, 1640 F Ave. NW in Cedar Rapids, that day with Dante Irvin, now 17, of Cedar Rapids, also convicted in the case, with the purpose of harming McCune.
Berry also admitted he encouraged Irvin to shoot McCune, according to the plea.
During other court hearings in the case, prosecutors said Berry; Irvin; Tramontez Lockett, now 18, of Cedar Rapids; and Devin Gardner, now 19, of Maquoketa, conspired to kill McCune over rival gang affiliations and conflicts some had while in the State Training School, a facility for delinquent boys, in Eldora.
Berry’s trial was set to start Tuesday in Linn County District Court. By pleading to second-degree murder, he faces up to 50 years in prison. If he would have been found guilty of first-degree murder, he would have faced up to life term but with the possibility of parole because he was 15 at the time of the fatal shooting.
Assistant Linn County Attorney Ryan Decker told The Gazette there is no agreement with the defense on sentencing. If Berry wasn’t a juvenile, he would automatically be sentenced to up to 50 years with a mandatory minimum of 35 years to be served before being eligible for parole. But as a juvenile, there is no required mandatory minimum — it’s up to the discretion of the judge.
The prosecution will argue for a mandatory minimum of 70 percent, or 35 years, of the 50 to be served because of the “planning and seriousness” of the case, Decker said.
Berry also will be ordered, at sentencing, to pay severally or jointly $150,000 to McCune’s estate or heirs.
His sentencing is set for April 28.
In May 2023, a judge waived Berry’s case from juvenile court to adult court, citing Berry wasn’t a “good candidate” for rehabilitation through juvenile court. Berry had been adjudicated in juvenile court on a charge of possession of a dangerous weapon and was on probation when he and the other teens were accused of killing McCune.
Fatal shooting
Kiana McCune, Michael’s mother, during Irvin’s adjudication in juvenile court in 2023, said her son had just left the apartment early that day to meet his “tracker” — a liaison who monitors teens for juvenile court. She heard gunshots about five minutes after he left and grabbed her 3-year-old off the sofa and “crawled” to the kitchen.
Police found McCune with eight gunshot wounds about 11:30 a.m. Feb. 18 inside the entryway of one of the apartment buildings, according to a criminal complaint. The fatal shot was to the top of his head, it stated.
According to the prosecution, Lockett started the deadly chain of events that day as he messaged McCune through Snapchat, according to court documents.
Lockett knew McCune was on a home visit from the state training school and arranged to pick him up at the apartment complex.
Lockett and Gardner, both 17 at the time, were identified on video surveillance as stealing a vehicle earlier in the day and picking up two others — Irvin, 15 at the time, and Berry, 16 at the time, before going to the apartments.
When they drove to the apartment building and saw McCune, Irvin and Berry started shooting at him, according to court testimony. One of them ran into the apartment building, continuing to shoot at McCune at close range.
Irvin pleaded in June 2023 to first-degree murder as a youthful offender. He was sent to the training school in Eldora and his sentencing was delayed until he turns 18.
His juvenile placement at the school initially was in question because Kelly Garcia, director of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, in a letter to the court asked for Irvin not to be placed at the Eldora school.
Garcia, in the letter obtained by The Gazette, said Irvin “would put his life and the lives of other students and STS (state training school) staff at risk of serious harm.”
During a hearing for Irvin, a juvenile court judge decided to send him to the Eldora school after all.
Gardner, charged with first-degree theft, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and accessory after the fact, had his pretrial release revoked last year when he was charged with first-degree burglary and assault causing bodily injury in Jackson County District Court. He will plead and be sentenced to Jan. 23.
A trial for Lockett, charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, first-degree theft and going armed with intent, is set for Feb. 4.
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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