18-year-old charged with first-degree murder turns down plea offer

CEDAR RAPIDS — An 18-year-old, accused of planning with three other teens to fatally shoot 16-year-old Michael Alexander McCune in Cedar Rapids in 2023, turned down a plea offer for lesser charges Friday.

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

If convicted of first-degree murder, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. The plea deal likely would have offered less prison time.

Before his plea hearing started Friday, Lockett told his lawyer he didn’t want to plead until after the trial of one of his co-conspirators, Baynon “BJ” Berry, now 17, of Marion.

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. His trial is set for Jan. 7.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Molly Edwards told Lockett’s lawyer that if Lockett didn’t want to plead Friday, then the plea offer was revoked and they would go forward to trial, according to the Linn County Attorney’s Office.

Lockett opted for the trial, which will be scheduled later.

Authorities charge that Lockett, who was 16 on Feb. 18, 2023, planned with Berry and two others 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 Eldora training school.

Lockett started the deadly chain of events that night, as he messaged McCune through Snapchat, according to court documents.

Lockett knew McCune was on a home visit from the Boys State Training School in Eldora and arranged to pick up McCune at the Tan Tara Apartments, 1640 F Ave. NW in Cedar Rapids.

Lockett and Devin Gardner, 17 at the time, of Maquoketa, were identified on a video surveillance as stealing a vehicle earlier in the day and picking up two others — Dante Irvin, 15 at the time, and Berry, 16 at the time, 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 close range.

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

Irvin, now 16, pleaded in June 2023 to first-degree murder as a youthful offender. He was incarcerated at a juvenile facility, and his sentencing was delayed until he turns 18.

Gardner, now 19, is charged with first-degree theft, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and accessory after the fact. His pretrial release was revoked last month when he was charged with first-degree burglary and assault causing bodily injury in Jackson County District Court. His trial is the Linn County case is set for Sept. 10.

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