Newstrack: One teen pleads, 3 others face trials in fatal shooting of 16-year-old in Cedar Rapids

Four teens planned a “targeted” fatal attack on 16-year-old Michael Alexander McCune in Cedar Rapids on Feb. 18 over past conflicts stemming from their rival gang affiliations and the time some of them spent together at the Boys State Training School in Eldora.

One of the teens has pleaded guilty, one wants to go back to juvenile court and two have trials scheduled.

Background

Tramontez Lockett, 16, of Cedar Rapids, seemed to start the deadly chain of events that night, as he was messaging McCune through Snapchat, according to court documents.

Lockett, who had been at the training school and knew McCune was on a home visit, arranged to pick up McCune at the Tan Tara Apartments, 1640 F Ave. NW.

Lockett and Devin Gardner, 16, of Maquoketa, were identified on a video surveillance from a Kum & Go at 2604 16th Ave. SW, as the two stole a 2019 Toyota RAV4 from that location earlier in the day, a criminal complaint stated.

The two drove the Toyota to pick up two others — Dante Irvin, 15, of Cedar Rapids, and Baynon “BJ” Berry, 16, of Marion.

They drove to the apartment building, and when they saw McCune, Irvin and Berry started shooting at him, according to previous court hearings in the case. One of them ran into the apartment building, continuing to shoot McCune at a close range.

Cedar Rapids police found McCune with eight gunshot wounds about 11:30 a.m. Feb. 18 inside the entryway of one of the apartment buildings. The fatal shot was to the top of his head, according to the complaint.

Lockett and Irvin were arrested in March, followed by Berry and Gardner in April. Lockett was charged as an adult and the other three were waived from juvenile court into district — adult -- court.

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What has happened since

In May, a prosecutor asked a judge to move Lockett, now 17, out of the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center because it lacked the space and staffing needed to keep him and the other three teens separated from each other.

A detention official testified during that hearing that an additional living pod was made to accommodate Lockett and the others who have no-contact orders — meaning they can’t communicate with each other pending their trials — but the center can’t ensure all their needs are met, including educational classes and safety.

Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Lars Anderson, in his ruling, said evidence at a hearing established that the detention center is struggling to meet the needs of the four involved.

Lockett is facing serious charges, including murder, and he had a significant history in juvenile court dating to 2017, Anderson noted in the ruling. He has juvenile adjudications — convictions — for thefts, burglaries, assaults, eluding and weapons violations, according to the ruling. Lockett also had numerous placements in juvenile court, including the state training school, he added.

Lockett was to be transferred to a county jail that could hold him “sight and sound separate from adults,” as required in Iowa law, Assistant Linn County Attorney Molly Edwards previously told The Gazette.

A placement was found for Lockett at the Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center in Eldora, by early June.

One pleads guilty

Irvin, a high school sophomore, pleaded in June to first-degree murder as a youthful offender. He will remain under the jurisdiction of the Linn County Juvenile Court until he turns 18, at which time he will return to district — adult — court, and a judge will decide whether to sentence him to life with the possibility of parole, a lesser prison term or probation, or release him.

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During Irvin’s plea hearing, 6th Judicial District Judge Ian Thornhill told Irvin his conduct while at a juvenile facility will be considered at sentencing. That sentencing in district court will be before his 18th birthday, which is in December 2025.

Irvin will have a Sept. 28 hearing in juvenile court where a judge will order him to go to a juvenile facility, such as the state training school in Eldora or another facility.

That placement may be difficult because after his plea hearing a letter was obtained by The Gazette that was written by Kelly Garcia, director of Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, to Irvin’s juvenile court officer, asking the court not to place him at the training school.

She said doing so “would put his life and the lives of other students and STS (state training school) staff at risk of serious harm.”

Garcia said McCune, a former student at the school, “identified” with a Cedar Rapids area gang, “The Money Boyz.” Irvin, she wrote, has a known affiliation with a “rival gang, who are suspected to be responsible” for McCune’s fatal shooting.

Garcia, in the letter, said if Irvin was sent to the school, she would request he immediately be removed after placement.

Juvenile court ask

Garcia wrote a similar letter in April regarding Lockett’s possible placement at the training school if convicted in a separate theft and eluding case, which started in juvenile court and transferred to district court.

Lockett has a hearing set for Sept. 22 on a motion to move his case to juvenile court in the McCune fatal shooting and in the separate case of theft and eluding. His lawyers will argue that he was 16 at the time of the offenses and there are “reasonable prospects” for rehabilitation in the juvenile system.

Edwards, the prosecutor, is arguing the court already waived jurisdiction from juvenile to adult court on the theft and eluding charges.

“It defies logic to believe that rehabilitative measures exist for defendant on his murder charge when the court already found they do not exist with respect to a substantially less serious and non-violent case,” Edwards said in her motion.

Two trials set

Berry will be the first of the teens to go to trial Dec. 5, but Edwards said during a hearing last month that a plea offer has been made to Berry. She provided no details of the offer.

Gardner’s trial was just reset to Feb. 20.

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