Cedar Rapids man charged with manslaughter in shooting outside H-Bar in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — A Cedar Rapids man was charged Monday with voluntary manslaughter in the Oct. 23 fatal shooting outside an Iowa City bar.

Antonio Steven Scotton, 19, also faces a charge of intimidation with a dangerous weapon in the shooting death of Waymond Thomas, 36, of Iowa City.

Thomas was shot outside the H-Bar, 220 S. Van Buren St., around 2 a.m. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Scotton was arrested, in November and charged with willful injury and participating in a riot in connection with a large fight inside the bar about 10 minutes before the shooting. Witnesses identified Scotton as the man who punched and kicked a woman who’d fallen and was knocked unconscious, a criminal complaint said.

Scotton and another person were walking away from the H-Bar when Thomas and a friend confronted them about the earlier assault, according to the new criminal complaint. Thomas punched Scotton, and a fight broke out between the four individuals.

During the fight, Thomas’ friend dropped a gun. Scotton picked it up and began firing. Everyone started running away, but Thomas was hit by gunfire. At least one bullet went through the wall of the H-Bar, the complaint states.

In November, Scotton was released from jail after posting a $10,000 bond. In December, he pleaded not guilty to the willful injury and participating in a riot charges. He was arrested Monday on the new charges and is being held in the Johnson County Jail.

As a result of the shooting and other incidents at the bar, Iowa City filed a nuisance abatement petition against the H-Bar, requesting the court require the H-Bar to close between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily.

Before the shooting, the bar was open from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursdays and 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, according to its Facebook page.

The city reached a temporary agreement with the bar’s owners in December that it close at 2 a.m. The owners also cannot refuse entry to any Iowa City police officer when it is open “so that officers may perform community caretaking functions.”

When the city filed the nuisance abatement petition, it said in a news release it is pursuing these measures “to protect the community from the ongoing serious criminal activity occurring at and around the business since its opening earlier this year.”

Gazette reporter Izabela Zaluska contributed to this report.

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