Mother of son gunned down on Ped Mall ‘relieved’ killer will remain in prison

IOWA CITY — The mother of a 22-year-old man shot in the back and killed by Lamar Wilson on Iowa City’s Ped Mall in 2017 asked the Iowa Board of Parole on Tuesday why members were considering releasing Wilson after serving only four years of a 24-year sentence.

“Why would the board let out a gang-banging, drug dealing murderer,” Shafona Jones said in her statement to a three-member panel of the board during a video hearing.

During last year’s review, Wilson, 28, “lied and manipulated” the board, saying he had a job lined up if they gave him work release, which he didn’t, and repeatedly said he had no ties to a gang, which is otherwise corroborated in the court records and during his trial, Jones said.

He also told the board last time the shooting happened in defense of his “brother Cutthroat,” who wasn’t his actual brother and was committing a crime when fleeing from police, which ended as he ran his vehicle into a tree, killing himself, Jones noted.

Wilson said he and others were out celebrating Cutthroat’s life on the Pedestrian Mall during the early hours of Aug. 27, 2017, when Wilson shot her son, Kaleek Jones, in the back and chased down two others who he seriously injured.

The board ultimately agreed to keep Wilson in prison and followed the Iowa Department of Corrections' recommendation of less restrictive living quarters and more privileges in prison, along with GPS monitoring.

After seeing references throughout court records that the deadly incident was gang-related, board members asked whether Wilson was affiliated with a gang.

Wilson denied he was ever part of a gang in Chicago, where he formerly lived and was tried for murder but acquitted, or in Iowa City. He said there was no “gang activity” that night. He said he was with a group of friends, and another group had issues over social media posts regarding Cutthroat.

Wilson said Kaleek Jones was “cool” to both groups and Kaleek wasn’t involved in the social media fight that incited the rival groups.

He told the board he reacted that night out of fear. He had no “malice in my heart and never intentionally shot Kaleek.” Wilson said he was “scared for his life.”

According to trial testimony, Jones was unarmed, along with two others who were shot, Xavier Hicks and his cousin, D’Andre Hicks. Wilson claimed immunity under Iowa’s stand-your-ground defense, which was rejected by a judge.

One board member asked Wilson why he had a gun, especially in light of being accused of a fatal shooting in Chicago before 2017. She thought sitting in jail waiting four years for the Chicago trial would make someone hesitant to carry a gun, which he said he did every day, since acquittal.

Wilson said he felt more comfortable with protection and felt his life was in danger because he heard the victim’s family in the Chicago murder was “coming after” him.

The board reversed its decision from Nov. 30 of last year that granted work release, after learning the Iowa Department of Corrections misunderstood how much time Wilson was ordered by a judge to serve. The department thought he was sentenced to 12 years, which he served almost half his time, but 6th Judicial District Judge Paul Miller ran the voluntary manslaughter, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, and two counts of assault with intent to commit serious injury consecutively for a total of 24 years.

For the review Tuesday, a department official said they recommended Wilson be moved to “minimum live out” — living quarters at prison with less security restrictions and more privileges — along with GPS monitoring.

Board members said because Wilson hasn’t had any behavior problems and has been in an “honor unit” while in prison, they would follow the department’s recommendation, but wouldn’t give Wilson work release at this point.

Wilson will be reviewed in 12 months, at which time the department told the board it would likely recommend work release.

“Thank God!” Shafona Jones said after the hearing. “He is a career criminal, and I’m thankful he will stay behind bars for now. I forgave Lamar Wilson a long time ago, so I could move on. I didn’t think he deserved life, nobody does, but he needs more prison time than four years.”

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness, who wrote a letter to the board opposing Wilson’s release and attended the video hearing, said she was “relieved” the board didn’t release him. She thought the board asked good questions and was glad to see the members understood the records and didn’t take Wilson’s statements at face value.

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