Heartbroken mother wants woman involved in her son’s killing to suffer like she has

CEDAR RAPIDS — Pam Lovette, mother of Cordal Lewis, told the woman who took part in the robbery and fatal shooting of her son in 2022 that she wanted the woman to feel the same “heartbreak and emptiness” that she and her family have felt.

“I hate what I’m going to say ... You deserve to be without your kids for a while,” Lovette, tearing up throughout, told Qiuinyana Nare Jones, 25, during her victim impact statement on Friday. “It (Lewis’ murder) broke my heart. Life will never be the same. Part of me is missing.”

Lovette, who was wearing a T-shirt displaying a photo or her son, and also displayed a framed photo of her son during her statement, said she is “mentally drained” from the trial, plea hearings and sentencings in this case.

“She (Jones) didn’t tell what happened,” Lovette said. “ Cordal was lying in the street, taking his last breath. You watched him being robbed and drove away like nothing happened.”

She asked 6th Judicial District Christopher Bruns to hold Jones accountable and give her the maximum sentence because “she deserves to suffer just as we have.”

Jones, originally charged with first-degree robbery, pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, which is a felony, and made a written guilty plea to accessory after the fact, an aggravated misdemeanor.

  Buy Photo

Jones made an Alford plea to the conspiracy charge, meaning she maintained her innocence but admitted the prosecution had enough evidence to convict her.

During her plea in August, Jones admitted she was part of a conspiracy between her and others, who she didn’t name — Pierra Baugh, Kazius Childress and Kavon Johnson — to rob Lewis and then help Childress escape after he fatally shot Lewis.

She also previously pleaded to eluding and OWI- first offense, in another case while she was out on pretrial release pending trial in this case.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks also asked the judge to sentence Jones to the maximum — 17 years in prison — calling it the only “reasonable” sentence. The 17 years would include the eluding and drunken driving convictions.

Jones was involved in the robbery and also was the driver who helped Kazius Childress, convicted of second-degree murder, escape the scene on Jan. 27, 2022, Maybanks said.

He also pointed out that Jones, after being in jail pending trial, received pretrial release in November 2022, but then in May, led officers on a high-speed chase while being intoxicated. She also has two previous theft convictions.

Mike Lahammer, Jones’ lawyer, said she made an Alford plea to the conspiracy to commit a forcible felony because she was afraid of being convicted at trial of first-degree robbery and facing 25 years in prison, but she didn’t know what Childress and the other two had planned that day. After being at the scene, she had “no choice” but to drive Childress and Baugh from the scene, Lahammer said.

Lahammer asked the judge to sentence Jones, who has two young children and is pregnant, to a suspended sentence and probation, as recommended in the presentencing report.

Jones, during the sentencing, told the Lewis family she was “sorry for their loss” and hoped they could forgive her someday.

She then told the judge she would be a “good fit” for probation and didn’t think she should go to prison.

Judge Bruns said this was difficult case to sentence because one family lost a son and Cordal Lewis’ son lost his father and would never get him back. Then, he also must consider another family — Jones’ children — will lose a mother if she is sent to prison, but he has to hold someone accountable “to the fullest extent of the law.”

  Buy Photo

Bruns said he also looked at some factors in the case, including Jones not showing any remorse or admitting she took part in the conspiracy to rob Lewis and helped Childress escape. He also considered that Jones had her pretrial release revoked and ultimately, didn’t view her as a good candidate for probation in this case.

Bruns ran the conspiracy and accessory sentences consecutively for 12 years and ran the eluding and drunken driving sentences concurrently for five years. Both of those sentences were then ran consecutively for the maximum of 17 years.

Fatal shooting

Jones, according to a surveillance video played during Childress’ murder trial, was standing by Childress, who had a handgun and was arguing with Lewis when Childress shot him.

A video showed Jones driving Childress away from the scene and then returning so Childress could remove evidence from Lewis’ body. She then drove Childress away and concealed his whereabouts.

  Buy Photo

There also was evidence of text messages that showed Jones had discussed the robbery with others.

Pierra Baugh, 34, was sentenced to up to 27 years in prison, and Kazius Childress was sentenced to up to 50 years in Lewis’ murder and another 50 years in the murder of Kavon Johnson the day after Lewis’ murder, on Jan. 28, 2022.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com