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Cedar Rapids man arrives in Johnson County Jail two years after attempted murder charges filed
He is accused of shooting a passenger in a car, then forcing the driver to drive to Illinois
Jul. 8, 2025 11:59 am, Updated: Jul. 9, 2025 7:22 am
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A Cedar Rapids man was booked into the Johnson County Jail Monday night, about two years after he was charged with attempted murder. He had been in custody in the Cook County Jail in Illinois on unrelated charges.
Lamont’e O’Neal is charged in Johnson County with attempted murder, second-degree kidnapping, willful injury causing serious injury, and two counts each of first-degree robbery, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
According to criminal complaints, O’Neal was in the back seat of a 2008 Nissan Altima on July 2, 2023 when he got into an argument with the front seat passenger. He took the other passenger’s phone during the argument, and when the other passenger turned around to get his phone back, O’Neal shot him in the stomach.
O’Neal then forced the driver, at gunpoint, to pull over and leave the front-seat passenger on the side of Highway 218, then drive to Peoria, Ill. O’Neal, who took the driver’s phone at gunpoint, had two guns with him in the back seat, the complaints state.
The front-seat passenger and the driver of the car are not named in the complaints.
O’Neal had his first appearance in Johnson County court Tuesday and is being held on a $450,000 bond.
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