Murder charges dropped in Dexter Meeks slaying

CEDAR RAPIDS — A man who confessed to police that he killed Dexter Meeks and attempting to kill his brother in 2011 couldn’t have done the crimes because he was in Clinton County Jail at the time.

Quint Meyerdirk, lawyer for Mykel A. Roberts, 29, charged with first-degree murder and two other charges, filed an alibi defense July 6, stating Roberts was in the jail on June 26, 2011, when Dexter Meeks was fatally shot and an attempt was made on his brother, Andrew Meeks, who was sitting next to him on the porch outside Dexter’s apartment at 211 15th St. SE.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Jordan Schier filed a motion to dismiss the charges July 8 after investigators verified Roberts was in the Clinton County Jail from March through July 2011.

Schier said he doesn’t know why Roberts confessed to investigators or why he wrote letters while in jail, asking to plead guilty.

Roberts’ lawyers asked the court that he undergo a competency evaluation at Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville, which he did. He was found competent to stand trial, according to court documents.

Meyerdirk didn’t immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Chad Kepros dismissed the charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and going armed with intent with prejudice — meaning they can’t be filed again — last week.

Greg Buelow, Cedar Rapids public safety spokesman, said Tuesday that based on the information investigators had at the time, they had probable cause for the arrest.

The department is committed to finding the person or persons responsible for fatally shooting Dexter Meeks, Buelow said. The investigation will resume.

This case went cold for nearly 10 years until Roberts made the confession while serving time in Wasco State Prison in California.

Roberts was serving a sentence for a series of armed robberies in Turlock and Modesto, Calif., according to the Turlock Journal.

Last year, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department in Modesto, Calif., called Cedar Rapids police cold case investigator Matt Denlinger, saying an inmate, Roberts, had information about a 2011 murder in Cedar Rapids but was uncertain of the victim's name, according to police.

When Roberts confessed, he told authorities he intended to kill Andrew Meeks that early morning instead of his brother, according to court documents. Roberts was charged in February.

Roberts provided investigators with a complete, detailed confession that supported and corroborated many details of the shooting, the criminal complaint stated.

At the time of the shooting, Andrew Meeks was unable to identify his brother's shooter. He told police his brother had pushed him out of the line of fire that day.

Andrew Meeks was killed July 2, 2017, when he and another man were shot inside a car at the west-side Walmart. Quarzone Martin, 29, of Cedar Rapids, was convicted in that slaying, though the conviction was overturned last summer by the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Martin’s trial has been reset to Nov. 30.

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