15-year-old shot and killed in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — A 15-year-old boy who collapsed into the arms of a friend's mother shortly after being shot Sunday night later died, sending authorities on a search for his killer.

Police identified the victim as Aaron K. Richardson. known to friends as Arro. They said they do not believe the killing was random — that Aaron was targeted.

More than 70 shots have been fired in dozens of shootings in the city this year, including many attributed to two groups that have been attacking each other throughout the summer.

Jerman said police were exploring whether Aaron's death was part of that ongoing rivalry.

'I'm going to reiterate what I've been stating for almost three years now,' the chief said. 'These acts would result in a tragedy. That's exactly what we have today. We have a 15-year-old kid who is dead over this act of violence. It did not need to happen. It should not have happened.'

This holiday weekend alone, Cedar Rapids police were investigating two other shootings within blocks of Sunday night's fatal shooting.

A Saturday night shooting in the 1500 block of Fourth Avenue SE left one person wounded. Monday morning, shots struck homes in the 400 block of 16th Street NE, but no injuries were reported.

With Aaron's death, homicides now have claimed three victims in the city so far this year, although this marks the youngest victim yet.

Shortly before 10:30 p.m. Sunday, police were called to a home in the 300 block of 16th Street SE. Aaron had come to the home saying he had been shot. He was taken to St. Luke's Hospital but died, police said.

Delight Henderson, the mother of one of Aaron's friends, said she held the teen as he bled and accompanied him in the ambulance.

Henderson said she was at her mother's house — the home in the 300 block of 16th Street SE — and had just returned there from the convenience store when she heard shots fired.

She said the shots came from nearby Redmond Park, though police had not confirmed that Monday afternoon.

Aaron 'was running to me, He just fell into my arms,' Henderson said. 'He said he had been hit. He basically died in my arms.'

Henderson said she believes Aaron suffered from two bullet wounds, though police have not released how many times the teen was hit.

'I was telling him to stay awake. Keep your eyes open,' she said. 'I told him I loved him.'

The house where Aaron and his family lived, in the 300 block of 19th Street SE. was teeming with people Monday afternoon. Relatives and friends offered condolences to his mother.

'He didn't have to die. He didn't deserve to die,' said his mother, Loise Brown. 'Everybody has bad things that they've done, but he didn't deserve it.'

Aaron was an avid basketball player, artist and jokester who loved his Jack Russell terrier, his mother and brother said. The family moved about two years ago to Iowa from the Chicago area, they said, but knew no one here.

'It was kind of hard. We had no family or anything here, but he had that positive energy that helped,' said his older brother, Troy Mims, 17.

Mims said that Aaron was a good kid who fell in with the wrong crowd. He was born a natural leader, Mims said, but ended up becoming a follower and joined up with what he called a gang.

'Instead of doing what everyone said he was going to do, he should have done the opposite and proven us wrong,' Mims said. 'He was smart, he wasn't dumb.'

Police have said there isn't a gang problem in the city.

Mims described Aaron as his best friend.

'We told each other everything,' Mims said. 'He always made me laugh when I wasn't supposed to laugh. He got on my nerves, but we had that close brother, normal brother relationship.'

Henderson said she has known Aaron for a year or two. She described him as a happy kid who was always laughing, dancing and telling jokes.

'He wasn't a troublemaker,' she said.

Henderson said that Arron didn't know who had shot him.

'He just heard the bullets and started running,' she said. 'He just turned around and took off running when they started shooting at him.'

Jerman said investigators conducted 'a number' of interviews since the shooting, but welcome more information.

'We have been interviewing some people, but we will not turn anyone away,' he said. 'If they have information, we'll gladly accept it.'

Jerman said police had not been able to confirm the location of the shooting.

'Would we like to locate it and have the opportunity to search and seize the evidence? Absolutely,' he said. 'In this case, we just don't know. You don't know what you don't know. Until we know a little bit more about the facts and circumstances that led to the shooting, that's something we just don't know right now. Ideally, we'd love to have the location ironed out. As of this conversation, we haven't located it.'

Anyone with information on the killing was asked to call the Cedar Rapids Police Department at 319-286-5491 or Linn County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-CR-CRIME.