Grieving big brother of teen killed in 2023 feels guilty he wasn’t there to protect him

CEDAR RAPIDS — The big brother of 16-year-old Michael McCune, who was targeted by four juveniles and fatally shot in 2023, tearing up, said Monday it’s not fair that he can only look at a gravestone, instead of seeing his brother’s smile that “lit up a room.”

Keonte McCune, wearing a shirt with Michael’s image, said he feels guilty because it was his job to protect his little brother, but he wasn’t there on Feb. 18, 2023 when Michael left his mom’s home. Michael was listening to music that morning, as he usually did, when Keonte left the apartment.

After leaving, Keonte got a call from his mother, saying “They’re shooting. They’re shooting. Come home.” By the time Keonte arrived, police tape was up and an ambulance was there.

“My heart sank,” Keonte said in his statement during the sentencing of Tramontez Lockett, now 18, convicted of second-degree murder and other charges. “I couldn’t believe this was happening. Life has been a living hell without Michael on this earth.”

“He trusted you and thought you were his friend,” Keonte said. “You set him up.”

Kiana McCune, Michael’s mother, also wore a shirt with Michael’s image on it. In her statement, she said her “handsome” son was a “sweet, loving, mama’s boy.” He loved music and playing basketball and other sports. He was loved “by many,” she said. Michael wanted to be a clothing designer some day and have “lots of kids.”

She has never forgotten that day, Kiana said. She had to listen to every shot while trying to protect her 3-year-old daughter inside the apartment.

Kiana said she will never get to hear her son’s voice again or be a grandmother to his children. She “hates” that her other children have to live with a “broken” mother.

“My son didn’t deserve what happened,” Kiana said. “He was ambushed and gunned down.”

She chided Lockett for showing no remorse and not taking accountability for the role he played in Michael’s shooting. Lockett befriended Michael, luring him into a meeting, only for her son to be killed.

“You act as though you have had no involvement, but you played a major part,” Kiana said.

Lockett, who was supported by his family at the hearing, declined to speak.

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Locket must serve 10-year minimum

Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Lars Anderson sentenced Lockett to up to 60 years in prison for his pleas to second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and first-degree theft.

The theft and conspiracy charges — 10 years each — will run concurrently to each other and consecutively to the murder charge for a total of 60 years, in accordance with the plea agreement.

Anderson, after hearing testimony from a juvenile court officer, a Cedar Rapids Police investigator and a clinical neuropsychologist, also ordered Lockett to serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years before being eligible for parole.

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An adult convicted of second-degree murder must serve a 35-year mandatory minimum, but because Lockett was 16 years old when he committed the crimes, it’s up to the discretion of a judge whether to impose a mandatory minimum sentence for juvenile.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Ryan Decker asked for a 25-year mandatory minimum and Webb Wassmer, Lockett’s lawyer, asked for 10 years.

Wassmer argued the juvenile brain isn’t fully developed and juveniles are impulsive. Lockett was only 16 when the crimes happened. He didn’t fire any shots and only provided a car to and from the incident.

He agreed Lockett had a “troubling” juvenile history but most of it consisted of property crimes and a few assaults without much detail in the record about those.

Wassmer argued the Iowa Board of Parole would have a better opportunity to gauge when Lockett should be released.

Decker argued Lockett had a long history of thefts and “victimizing” the community as a juvenile. In this crime, he reached out to Michael, as a friend, asking to meet with him while Michael was on a home visit from the State Training School in Eldora.

But Lockett was with Dante Irvin, now 17, of Cedar Rapids, and Baynon Berry, now 17, of Marion, who were part of a group that was a rival of Michael’s group, and they wanted to kill him. Lockett knew this, and helped them plan this meeting.

Lockett was the ‘linchpin,’ investigator testifies

According to testimony and other hearings in this case, Lockett started the deadly chain of events on Feb. 18, 2023, as he messaged McCune through Snapchat. He got Michael to give him the address of his mom’s home at the Tan Tara Apartments, 1640 F Ave. NW in Cedar Rapids, and agreed to pick him up.

Lockett and Devin Gardner, 17 at the time, were identified on video surveillance stealing a vehicle earlier in the day and picking up Irvin, 15 at the time, and Berry, 16 at the time, before heading to the apartments.

Investigator Sara Lacina, who testified about the shooting at Monday’s sentencing, said a surveillance video showed Lockett, Irvin and Berry were waiting for Michael to come outside, while Gardner waited in the stolen SUV. When Michael came out, about 11:42 a.m., Irvin and Berry fired multiple shots.

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Michael ran into one of the other apartment buildings and tried to get into a friend’s apartment, but Irvin ran after him and fired several times before Michael could get inside.

According to previous testimony, Michael was found inside the entryway of the building with eight gunshot wounds. The fatal shot was to the top of his head, according to the complaint

Lacina said Lockett drove them away from the scene and they went to Berry’s house in Marion.

She said Lockett answered some questions about the stolen vehicle but initially denied being involved. Irvin and Berry talked to police, and there were witnesses in the parking lot when the shooting happened.

Lacina called Lockett the “linchpin” of the plan because he created the opportunity for Irvin and Berry to kill Michael.

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