5 of 15 bullets used in 2021 Iowa City slaying were ‘unique, more powerful’ ammunition

IOWA CITY — A police officer testified Thursday about the 15 shell casings, including the casings for five “unique and powerful” bullets, found in an apartment complex parking lot after an Iowa City man was fatally shot in 2021.

Iowa City police Officer Zachary Murguia, who was a crime scene technician with the department in 2021, said different brands of ammunition casings were fired at a black Dodge Journey on April 28, 2021.

Tommy Curry, 31, of Iowa City, was sitting inside the SUV in the parking lot of Meadow Lark Apartment Complex, 2470 Lakeside Dr., expecting to meet a woman he’d met on a dating app.

Murguia testified that police found 15 fired casings, including two for Winchester and eight for Spear-brand bullets. Also, he said, there were five “unique” Federal-brand bullets, which had blue primer seal, which are higher pressure — “faster and powerful ” — rounds typically used for “defensive or hunting” purposes.

Murguia said the Federal bullets can penetrate metal, such as a vehicle, and aren’t typically found at Iowa City crime scenes involving shootings.

On trial

Renard Winfield Jr., 32, of Gary, Ind., is on trial this week in Johnson County District Court, charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Curry.

Prosecutors say Winfield shot Curry as an act of revenge after Curry allegedly shot Winfield in June 2020, though no one was arrested in that shooting because Winfield wouldn’t identify his shooter.

Winfield waited and planned his revenge, a prosecutor said Wednesday in his opening statement to jurors, many months later by posing as a woman on an online dating site to lure Curry to his death with a promise of a date.

The “woman,” through text messages, asked Curry to meet her in the parking lot of the apartment complex.

Winfield was arrested in 2021, but his trial was delayed 10 times because of scheduling conflicts and Winfield changing lawyers more than once.

The prosecution may wrap up its case Friday or Monday.

Testimony

Murguia testified the five Federal spent casings were found closest to a carport that was near Curry’s car.

“It appears they were the first to be fired or the last to be fired,” Murguia said.

No firearm or weapon was found on Curry or in his vehicle, Murguia said.

Two other officers also said no gun was found in Curry’s vehicle.

Murguia said 12 bullet holes were in Curry’s SUV, identifying the damage in photos shown jurors. Damage was mainly to the driver’s side door and window, which was shattered. Bullet holes also were in the front windshield.

There was no evidence of a gun being fired from inside the vehicle by Curry, he said.

A search warrant was obtained for Winfield’s mother’s house in Indiana, where police found Winfield after the shooting. Murguia said a Federal brand box of ammunition was found in the home, and five bullets were missing from the box.

In other testimony, Dr. Dennis Firchau, a Johnson County medical examiner and associate professor of pathology with the University of Iowa, testified Curry died from a gunshot wound to his chest. He also had gunshot injuries to his left arm, left hand, head and scalp.

The bullet that hit his left arm and left chest area were related, Firchau said. The bullet first went into his left arm, exited and then entered his chest area. He also had other superficial wounds around the left arm, a gunshot wound to his scalp and his left palm, likely from fragments of bullets.

The bullet that hit Curry’s chest penetrated his left lung, heart and coronary artery. It also damaged his right pulmonary artery, right lung and then entered the soft tissue of his back. The injuries caused “massive” hemorrhaging in his chest cavity, which likely caused his death, Firchau said.

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