Family objects to plea deal in ‘premeditated’ fatal shooting in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — Heartbroken and angry family members of Michael Hodges Jr., who was fatally shot in his car during an alleged drug deal in October 2023, asked a judge Friday to not accept a plea agreement for his killer.

Michael Hodges Sr., Michael’s father, said the killing of his 29-year-old son wasn’t accidental.

Darnell Bays, 30, of Cedar Rapids, intended to rob and kill his son — someone who had helped Bays. Bays shot him five times and stole Hodges’ phone and wallet. It was “premeditated,” the father said.

Hodges Sr. said there were a lot of “issues with the prosecution and the investigators. They made promises to the family. I don’t accept the plea agreement.”

The plea agreement, however, was accepted by Bays and the court, with Bays sentenced to up to 40 years in prison on Friday.

Cedar Rapids police found Hodges Jr. with fatal gunshot injuries to his hip, torso, neck and arms in his 2016 Volkswagen Jetta, which was parked outside Uptown Liquor at 2000 Wiley Blvd. SW, on Oct. 12, 2023, according to a criminal complaint.

Sa’Mia Rucker, Hodges’ sister, said Friday during the sentencing hearing that she, too, opposed the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter extended Bays because the case should have ended in a first-degree murder conviction.

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Her brother’s slaying was a “cold and calculated act of violence,” not something done in the heat of the moment, she said in a victim impact statement read by a family friend.

She said the plea agreement denied accountability for her brother’s murder and that the family had wanted the case to go to trial.

Dalesha Barton, the mother of Hodges’ son, said there was “no punishment that could ever replace” the loved one stolen from them.

“He was an amazing person and loving man,” Barton said. “He wouldn’t hurt anyone who wasn’t hurting him.”

Barton said her son — who stood by her during her statement — was in pain every day over the loss of his father. Bays “took everything from them.” She also chastised Bays for not apologizing to her son during the sentencing when he had the chance.

She said Bays had been in her house and that Michael had let him sleep on the sofa when nobody else would help him.

“God will handle you how he sees fit, no matter what the court says,” Barton said.

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Amaja Rucker, another sister of Hodges Jr., said in her victim impact statement that her brother was her best friend. They talked every day, and he would always check in with her. He was her family’s “foundation and future.” He believed in loyalty and friendship but those cost him his life, she said.

Amaja Rucker said her brother had befriended Bays. They worked together, and Bays slept on his sofa.

“This was an intentional shooting,” she said. “This was planning and execution. He (Bays) didn’t render aid. He left him (Michael) alone for hours and took Michael’s phone.”

She also repeated several times that her brother had been “shot five times and left to die.”

She also asked the judge not to accept the plea.

Plea deal accepted

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Sixth Judicial District Judge Liz Dupuich accepted the plea agreement for Bays, originally charged with first-degree murder, in which Bays pleaded to the lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, going armed with intent and possession of a firearm as a felon — as a habitual felon with at least two previous felony convictions.

He was sentenced immediately to the maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison. He must serve a mandatory 13 years before being eligible for parole.

Dupuich also ordered him to pay $150,000 in restitution to the heirs or estate of Hodges Jr., as required by state law.

Prosecution: Couldn’t prove first-degree

“The pain and heartbreak that the family of Michael Hodges Jr. still endures. … His loss is evident, and our hearts go out to them,” Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said after the hearing.

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“As for the statements made by family members asserting the facts of the case, I understand their position. However, those statements did not reflect what we would’ve been able to prove in court.”

Maybanks said prosecutors could prove there was a drug deal between two armed men. Bays likely would have claimed self-defense. He never admitted to the police that he robbed Hodges Jr. or that he intended to rob or commit murder.

“Mr. Bays contended to police that Mr. Hodges Jr. displayed a firearm to him that he had on his person and pointed it at him, that is when he fired at Mr. Hodges Jr.,” Maybanks said. “Because of the loss of a key witness who may be able to combat some of those assertions, we were not reasonably confident we could prove murder or robbery.”

Maybanks said, in prosecutors’ opinion, they believed they could prove voluntary manslaughter, but not murder.

“Based on my extensive experience evaluating the strength of these cases, this was the most optimal outcome I believe we could have achieved in this case facing the real possibility of a more adverse outcome at trial.”

John Bishop, Bays’ lawyer, asked the judge to follow the plea agreement.

Fatal shooting

Cedar Rapids police investigators found 9 mm casings inside Hodges Jr.’s car and believed the fatal shots were fired from the passenger side of the car at Hodges, who was the driver.

Video from nearby security cameras showed Hodges pulling his Jetta into the liquor store’s parking lot. About a minute or so later, a white SUV pulled in and parked directly behind the Jetta. Bays got out of the SUV and got inside the Jetta, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Shortly after Bays got in, five gunshots are heard on the video. Then Bays got out and returned to the SUV.

According to the complaint, Eddie Griffin went to the police department about two hours later and told investigators he was driving the SUV to take his cousin, Bays, to meet Hodges for a drug deal. Bays offered Griffin $30 for the ride.

Griffin told police that Bays got into Hodges’ car but came back and said he didn’t get any money. He said Bays never mentioned Hodges pulling a gun on him.

Early the next day, on Oct. 13, Bays turned himself in at the police department and admitted to being inside Hodges’ vehicle and shooting him, according to the complaint. Bays said he went there to deliver marijuana to Hodges.

Police found an ounce of marijuana and a gun in Hodges’ vehicle, the complaint stated. The gun was found between the driver’s seat and door, but there was no evidence that Hodges fired at Bays while in the car.

Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette

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