116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Home / News / Crime & Courts
Iowa City police investigating stabbing
The incident happened under the Benton Street Bridge

Mar. 18, 2024 2:02 pm, Updated: Mar. 18, 2024 6:22 pm
IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Police Department is investigating a stabbing that happened over the weekend under the Benton Street Bridge.
Yossarian Ulyesses Williams, 47, of Iowa City, has been charged with willful injury causing serious injury in relation to the stabbing, which happened at about 1:20 p.m. Saturday under the Benton Street Bridge, according to a news release from the police department.
Williams was arguing with another person before he started stabbing him in the chest, shoving him into the river and telling him he was going to die, according to a criminal complaint against Williams.
The victim had emergency surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and is in critical condition, the complaint states. The identity of the victim has not been released.
Williams is being held in the Johnson County Jail on a cash-only $10,000 bond.
Investigators are attempting to identify a potential witness to the stabbing, and released a photo of the person Monday. The witness is described as a white or Hispanic man with a long beard wearing all blue clothing and carrying a blue backpack.
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com