Crime & Courts

The chief state medical examiner on Friday testified the single bullet that killed 17-year-old Cristian Upah during a marijuana robbery last May did extensive damage to his diaphragm muscle, intestines and lower right back muscle. The gunshot caused “significant” blood loss and collapsed his left lung.

The Linn County Sheriff’s Office changed its policy in November to say homeless sex offenders must check in every five days. In February, following the court ruling, Linn County started registering homeless sex offenders like anyone else on the registry.

Witnesses, who lived in duplex where Cristian Upah was fatally shot outside in the yardlast year, said they heard a gunshot and female screaming and then saw Keyun McGowan running from the scene.

The Iowa Ombudsman’s Office released a report Thursday saying county jails across the state should stop collecting money for medical expenses from inmates who haven’t been convicted of a crime.

The girlfriend of Cristian Upah, who was fatally shot last year in a marijuana robbery, testified she can’t identify 17-year-old Keyun McGowan, who is on trial this week. But McGowan’s best friend identified him as the shooter during his testimony Wednesday.

Four members of a rural Iowa family are accused of abducting and abusing an 18-year-old relative who had been handcuffed to a bed and beaten so badly that he had brain bleeding and multiple broken ribs, and who was so malnourished that he weighed just 70 pounds when he showed up at a hospital earlier this year, court documents say.

A Cedar Rapids man charged in Chris Bagley’s fatal stabbing will ask judge to move trial out of Linn County based on social media posts. Prosecutor says there’s no Iowa law that addresses social media in regards to change of venue motion.

Cedar Rapids man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for driving drunk and striking two pedestrians, killing one of them, last November.