17-year-old charged in fatal shooting will stay in adult court

CEDAR RAPIDS — A judge will not transfer the murder and theft cases of a 17-year-old from adult court to juvenile court because, he wrote in a ruling, there wouldn’t be enough time or resources for rehabilitation and it’s not in the best interest of the community or the teen.

Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Lars Anderson, in his ruling last week to deny the defense’s motion, said Tramontez Lockett, who is charged with the Feb. 18 fatal shooting of 16-year-old Michael Alexander McCune and stealing a vehicle, demonstrated the ability to do well in a structured environment while earlier in the Boys State Training School in Eldora while in juvenile court. But when outside of that, “problems appear to recur.”

The judge noted Lockett will turn 18 in about nine months.

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“His record to date demonstrates a reoccurring pattern of reverting to criminal behavior,” Anderson said in the ruling. “Perhaps that cycle can be broken, but in juvenile court the known available resources and the available time are not up to the task.”

If Lockett remains in adult court, a judge would have a full range of sentencing options if the teen is convicted of the charges — first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, first-degree theft and going armed with intent, Anderson noted.

Transferring Lockett back to juvenile court would set him up for failure, which isn’t in his or the community’s best interest, Anderson said.

Chad Deahl, a Lockett’s juvenile court officer, in a hearing last month said Lockett had been at the training school after being found delinquent — guilty — on several juvenile charges. Deahl supervised Lockett in 2022 from February through November.

Deahl said Lockett completed all his classes and overall he did well. He had 19 “positive” weeks — a grade of positive or negative time — but he had significant behavior issues in June and August of 2022. He was on the honor roll 15 times.

Deahl recommended the teen be discharged from his oversight in February of this year, after he had been out of the school for three months and shortly before McCune was killed Feb. 18. Deahl said he recommended Lockett for discharge because he’d completed his education but he wasn’t working on the goals — getting a job, making progress on with online classes — that Deahl set for him.

Anderson also noted in his ruling that Lockett couldn’t return to the training school. Kelly Garcia, director of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, sent a letter in April to Deahl, stating she had safety and flight risk concerns about Lockett being at the school with others there who were affiliated with McCune and this case.

Deahl testified that the training school is the highest level of care for delinquent teen males in Iowa and there were no others within the state.

According to court documents and previous hearings, Lockett and three others are accused of planning a “targeted” fatal attack on McCune over past conflicts stemming from their rival gang affiliations and the time some of them spent together at the training school.

Lockett seemed to start the deadly chain of events that night, as he was messaging McCune through Snapchat, according to court documents. Lockett knew McCune was on a home visit from the training school and arranged to pick up McCune at the Tan Tara Apartments, 1640 F Ave. NW in Cedar Rapids.

Lockett and Devin Gardner, 16, of Maquoketa, were identified on a video surveillance as stealing a vehicle earlier in the day and picking up two others — Dante Irvin, 15, of Cedar Rapids, and Baynon “BJ” Berry, 16, of Marion, 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 hearings. One of them ran into the apartment building, continuing to shoot at McCune at a close range.

Cedar Rapids police found McCune about 11:30 a.m. Feb. 18, with eight gunshot wounds, inside the entryway of one of the apartment buildings. The fatal shot was to the top of his head, according to the complaint. The others who have been charged:

• Berry is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, going armed with intent and a probation violation stemming from a gun charge in juvenile court.

• Irvin is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and going armed with intent. Irvin has pleaded to first-degree murder as a youthful offender. He will be sent to training school and his sentencing will be delayed until he turns 18.

• Gardner is charged with first-degree theft, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and accessory after the fact.

Berry will be the first of the teens to go to trial Dec. 5. Lockett’s trial is set for Jan. 9 and Gardner’s trial is Feb. 20.

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