15-year-old faces murder charge in adult court

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids 15-year-old will be charged in adult court for conspiring with three others to kill another teen, Michael McCune, at a northwest Cedar Rapids apartment complex Feb. 18, while McCune was on a home visit from the Boys State Training School.

On Friday, Sixth Judicial Associate District Judge Russell Keast waived Dante Irvin into adult — district — court, where he will face charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and going armed with intent.

Irvin will have an initial appearance and be formally charged Monday in Linn County District Court.

Keast said there was a plea agreement in place, in which Irvin will plead guilty to first-degree murder as a youthful offender and the other charges will be dismissed at sentencing.

Mike Lahammer, Irvin’s lawyer, and Assistant Linn County Attorney Matt Kishinami agreed the plea will be in the best interest of the teen and the community.

Many of Irvin’s family members and his two legal guardians attended Friday’s hearing in Linn County Juvenile Court. McCune’s mother and her son also attended the hearing.

Youthful offender

Being prosecuted as a youthful offender means that Irvin, after he is convicted, will remain under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court and be sent to an appropriate juvenile facility such as the state training school in Eldora until he turns 18.

At that time, he will return to adult court and a judge will decide his sentencing. First-degree murder is a life sentence without the possibility of parole, but Irvin is a juvenile and life sentences without parole were banned in 2016 by the Iowa Supreme Court, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s same decision in 2012.

Kishinami, the prosecutor, said a sentencing judge could set a mandatory minimum of years Irvin must be incarcerated. Another judge did that Monday in sentencing Ethan Orton, who was 17 when he killed his parents at their Cedar Rapids home. Orton was sentenced to a mandatory minimum of 50 years before being eligible for parole.

Kishinami said each case involving a juvenile in adult court is resolved based on the facts and circumstances of that specific case.

Juvenile placement issue

There might be a complication, however, as to what juvenile facility Irvin can go if he’s convicted as a youthful offender, according to a court document The Gazette obtained Friday.

Kelly Garcia, director or Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, sent a letter to Irvin’s juvenile court officer, asking that the court not place Irvin at the Boys State Training School because “it would put his life and the lives of other students and STS (state training school) staff at risk of serious harm.”

Garcia said it’s only in “rare circumstances” that the state department and the school request that a juvenile not be sent to the training school.

“With respect to Mr. Irvin’s potential admission at the school, STS does not have the appropriate space or services to meet the challenges such a placement would bring.”

Garcia said McCune, a former student at the training school, “identified” with a Cedar Rapids area gang, “The Money Boyz.” And Irvin has a known affiliation with a “rival gang, who are suspected to be responsible” for McCune’s fatal shooting, she wrote.

Several of McCune’s friends “and former gang members” now live at the training school, Garcia said in the letter. The school is an open campus and not a prison or detention facility. The school is unsecured — with no fencing, external walls or guard towers, and staffers don’t carry guns, she said.

The department and school have concerns that Irvin, based on the nature of the offense, would be a “high flight risk,” and McCune’s friends or “former gang members” would attempt to break into the training school and harm Irvin.

Taking actions on both concerns would require the school to secure the premises and lock down the school 24/7 until Irvin graduates, Garcia noted.

“Such drastic steps are impractical, costly and would disrupt the services to the 54 students currently at STS,” Garcia said.

Garcia added that if the court places Irvin at the school, she will “request his “removal immediately” after placement.

Kishinami declined to comment on the letter.

Others charged in fatal shooting

Three other juveniles are accused of conspiring to commit a “targeted” attack on McCune, 16, over past conflicts, according to criminal complaints.

Tramontez Lockett, 16, was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, first-degree theft and going armed with intent.

Baynon Berry, 16, who was waived into adult court last month, was charged last week with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, going armed with intent and a probation violation.

Devin Gardner, 16, of Maquoketa, also waived into adult court, was charged with first-degree theft, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and accessory after the fact.

Cedar Rapids police found McCune with eight gunshot wounds around 11:30 a.m. Feb. 18 inside the entryway of an apartment at the Tan Tara Apartments, 1640 F Ave. NW.

Lockett and another individual were seen on video surveillance at the Kum & Go, 2604 16th Ave. SW, and identified as the two who stole a 2019 Toyota RAV4 from that location the day of the fatal shooting, according to the complaint.

Lockett and the individual met two others and all four went to the Tan Tara Apartments in the stolen SUV, the complaint stated.

McCune’s phone showed Lockett had been messaging him through Snapchat and had arranged to pick up McCune at the apartments, according to a search warrant affidavit and complaint.

When Lockett and two others — most likely Irvin and Berry, based on the charges — saw McCune, the two individuals with Lockett started shooting at McCune. One of the individuals ran into the apartment building, continuing to shoot at McCune at close range.

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