Activist groups say county attorney statement on fatal stabbing is encouraging but delayed

Feb. 6, 2023 10:17 am, Updated: Feb. 6, 2023 2:48 pm

A town hall event hosted at the Cedar Rapids Public Library Jan. 29 honored Devonna Walker, who was fatally stabbed on Jan. 2. Attendees were invited to sign this poster, which includes a painting of Walker by Thomas Clark, and a design by Darlene Town. The painting and design were also featured on T-shirts worn by many attendees and flyers that were handed out. (Emily Andersen/The Gazette)

CEDAR RAPIDS — A coalition of Cedar Rapids activist groups, which has organized protests and meetings in response to the fatal stabbing of Devonna Walker in January, has issued a statement in response to a statement issued last week about the case by Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks.

Walker was stabbed Jan. 2 in the 2100 block of North Towne Court NE. Police were called about 6:45 p.m., and Walker was taken to a hospital where she died. Two people were detained and interviewed by Cedar Rapids police, but released. No one has been arrested in connection with her death.

The Cedar Rapids Police handed the case over to the Linn County Attorney’s Office on Jan. 13, and Maybanks released a video statement Friday saying that he is having two of his top felony prosecutors look over the case while he focuses on a different trial that could last the next two weeks.

Maybanks said he expects to have the information necessary to make a decision regarding an arrest in this case by the end of February.

“We appreciate (Maybanks’) thoughtful tone and recognize his role obligates him to address several ‘very important’ cases and investigations simultaneously. Attorney Maybanks’ indication that he expects ‘to have enough information to make a decision by the end of February’ is, while delayed, encouraging,” the coalition said in the statement released Monday.

The coalition, comprised of Advocates for Social Justice, Cedar Rapids NAACP Branch, Indivisible, Marion Alliance for Racial Equity, Parents Against Violence Everywhere, Stand in Unity and We Are CR, has hosted several protests and a town hall meeting discussing Walker’s case and calling for an arrest to be made.

The lack of an arrest in the case has caused distress among many Black community members because of a video of the incident that has been circulated on social media, which appears to show Walker, a Black woman, arguing with a white man and woman.

The man is heard calling Walker a racial slur, and then she engages in a physical fight with both the man and the woman. It appears that during the physical fight, the man stabs Walker.

The coalition hosted a protest Saturday after Maybanks’ statement, and will host another protest Tuesday at 1 p.m., at the intersection of First Avenue and 16th Street NE.