Tajh Ross murder trial starts Tuesday

CEDAR RAPIDS - Reginald Williams said last year he felt some peace after five men were charged in the fatal shooting of his 19-year-old daughter, Latasha Roundtree, but it didn't bring her back and didn't explain her death Sept. 22, 2012.

Williams said he thought four of the men charged were friends of his daughter and couldn't understand it. Other family members also said they remembered seeing three of them at Roundtree's memorial events.

Williams, his family and the community hope to get answers this week as the murder trial of Tajh Ross begins. Ross, 20, is accused of shooting Roundtree while she was a passenger in a car, heading to a party that night. Roundtree was a former Washington High School basketball player and had accepted a partial scholarship to play at William Penn University in Oskaloosa. She had returned to Cedar Rapids shortly before the shooting.

The bench or non-jury trial starts 1 p.m. Tuesday in Linn County District Court. The trial is expected to last two weeks. Ross is charged with first-degree murder, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and going armed with intent. He is accused of firing a gun into the car, according to a criminal complaint. According to previous hearings for Ross and the four other defendants, who have pleaded to lesser charges, it wasn't Roundtree who was the target, but others in the car.

The four others who have pleaded guilty in the case are:

- Yasin Muhidin, 18, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded guilty in May to involuntary manslaughter and trafficking stolen weapons. He admitted to aiding and abetting by going armed with intent. Muhidin said he didn't take the guns out of the car trunk, but he drove the car with the guns to the area. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

- Jeremiah Ellis, 19, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded guilty in May to amended charges of accessory after the fact, conspiracy to commit a felony of going armed and intimidation with a dangerous weapon. Ellis admitted he fired a loaded handgun at the car and admitted to participating with others who went armed and planned to injure or intimidate others that night. He faces up to 17 years in prison.

- Liban Muhidin, 22, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. He admitted to conspiring with four others to shoot at the vehicle. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

- Adrian M. Kenney, 23, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded guilty last year to perjury and accessory after the fact. He admitted to giving false information about the crime to police, disposing of evidence and helping others flee from the scene. He faces up to seven years in prison.

The four men, as part of the plea agreement, will testify against Ross during the trial and agreed to provide information to investigators and cooperate with the prosecutor in preparing for trial. They will be sentenced after Ross' trial.

A sixth defendant in the case, Alleigha Church-Green, 19, of Canton, Ohio, was charged in May and has pleaded not guilty. Her trial hasn't been set. She is charged with intimidation with a weapon, perjury, accessory after the fact, obstruction of prosecution and false reports, according to a criminal complaint. She is accused of jointly participating or aiding and abetting others in the commission of the crime by driving the men from the scene after the shooting, where one of the men disposed of a firearm from her vehicle, and then she drove the men to a remote location to help them avoid arrest.

Church-Green also is accused of providing false information to police and in depositions to be used at trial regarding charges of first-degree murder, intimidation with a weapon, going armed with intent and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, according to the complaint. It said she provided false information on several occasions in Cedar Rapids and when officers visited her in Ohio.

Gazette Reporter Trish Mehaffey will provide live coverage from the courtroom. Follow her live blog at thegazette.com. Followers can provide comments and ask questions during the trial.