$2M bail for 15-year-old charged in Cedar Rapids fatal shooting

CEDAR RAPIDS — A judge set a $2 million bail Monday for a 15-year-old charged with conspiring with three other teens to fatally shoot 16-year-old Michael Alexander McCune at a northwest Cedar Rapids apartment complex Feb. 18.

Dante Irvin, who was waived Friday into adult district court, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and going armed with intent.

Mike Lahammer, Irvin’s lawyer, waived a preliminary hearing and 6th Judicial Associate District Judge Russell Keast set the bail during the brief hearing Monday in Linn County District Court. Irvin’s family members were in the courtroom during the hearing.

During Friday’s hearing in juvenile court, Keast said there already was a plea agreement for Irvin to plead guilty to first-degree murder as a youthful offender, and the other charges would be dismissed at sentencing.

Being prosecuted as a youthful offender means that Irvin, after 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 would 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 a chance at parole were banned in 2016 by the Iowa Supreme Court, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s same decision in 2012.

Juvenile placement

Irvin’s case may become more complicated because Kelly Garcia, director of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, sent a letter, obtained by The Gazette, to Irvin’s juvenile court officer asking the court not place Irvin at the Boys State Training School. Doing so “would put his life and the lives of other students and STS (state training school) staff at risk of serious harm.”

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.

Garcia, in the letter, said if Irvin was sent to the school, she would request he immediately be removed after placement.

Irvin will likely plead after his arraignment is set.

According to criminal complaints, the four juveniles are accused of conspiring to commit a “targeted” attack on McCune over past conflicts.

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

Baynon Berry, 16, also in adult court, 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 in 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 about 11:30 a.m. Feb. 18 inside the entryway of one of the buildings at Tan Tara Apartments, 1640 F Ave. NW.

Lockett and another individual — likely Gardner, based on the charges — 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 — Irvin and Berry, based on charges — and all four went to the Tan Tara Apartments in the stolen vehicle, the complaint stated.

McCune’s phone showed Lockett had been messaging him through Snapchat and had arranged to pick up McCune, who was on a home visit from the training school, 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, the records show. One of the individuals ran into the apartment building, continuing to shoot at McCune at close range.

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