Sister said brother’s murder ‘destroyed’ her family’s lives

CEDAR RAPIDS — The sister of Jorge Maldonaldo-Vazquez, who was fatally shot Feb. 15, 2023, by a Cedar Rapids man, said Friday she could write for the rest of her life how his death “destroyed” her and her family’s lives.

Kimberly Maldonaldo-Vazquez, in a victim statement during sentencing for her brother’s killer, Brannon Johnson, said nothing “beautiful should exist anymore” because her brother was no longer with his siblings, mother, grandmothers and other relatives.

A jury in March convicted Johnson, 22, of second-degree murder. He was originally charged with first-degree murder.

During the Friday hearing, Johnson apologized to the Maldonaldo-Vazquez family. He said he didn’t act out of “hate and malice” and that he didn’t know Maldonaldo-Vazquez.

Johnson said he acted in self-defense and planned to appeal his conviction. He disputed evidence of how two bullets were fired at the victim, saying he didn’t “execute” him.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Jason Besler denied the defense’s motion for a new trial before he sentenced Johnson to up to 50 years in prison. Johnson will have to serve a mandatory minimum of 35 years before being eligible for parole.

Besler also ordered Johnson to pay $150,000 in victim restitution to Maldonaldo-Vazquez’s heirs or estate in accordance with Iowa law.

Victims speak

Kimberly Maldonaldo-Vazquez’s statement, read in court by Chris Adcock, a victim/witness coordinator with the Linn County Attorney’s Office, said each family member has been affected by her brother’s murder, and she asked the court to show “no mercy” to Johnson.

She also stated she hoped Johnson would live a long life so he could think about what he had done for the rest of his life.

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She said Jorge, 27, of Cedar Rapids, was “gregarious and had an infectious smile,” even when he may not have felt cheerful. He was always there to help anyone in need, especially an older person or someone with special needs.

Jorge, she said, was a talented mechanic and loved to watch scary movies and crime shows, which she frequently did with him, she said.

Her brother graduated from Williamsburg High School and attended Kirkwood Community College, according to his obituary.

In another statement read by Adcock, Allison McClain, on behalf of Jorge’s son, said her son doesn’t understand right now what happened to his father but has expressed fear that she also will die and leave him.

He asked God to give his father back to him, she said.

Since his father’s death, her son also has displayed disruptive and violent behavior, and she continues to find therapists and psychologists to help him.

McClain said she worried about her son, as he gets older, finding out about how his father died — “senselessly murdered” in his own home.

What happened

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According to testimony, Jennica Cicalo — Jorge Maldonado-Vazquez’s roommate — said Jorge was fatally shot after telling her and her co-worker, Johnson, to be quiet around 4:30 a.m. Feb. 15, 2023, because he was trying to sleep.

Cicalo testified during trial that some of the early morning hours of Feb. 15, 2023, are “fuzzy” because she was intoxicated. But she recalled the shooting that morning in their Windsor on the River apartment, 2106 Buckingham Dr. NW.

Maldonado-Vazquez was in the bedroom trying to sleep while she and Johnson were drinking alcohol and watching TV in the living room. Maldonado-Vazquez came into the living room three times complaining about the noise.

The last time he started arguing with Johnson, who stood up from the sofa and tapped his right side, saying he had his gun, she said.

Maldonado-Vazquez said, “’What, you’re going to shoot me. Really?” as if he didn’t believe Johnson, Cicalo testified. She said she got in between the two before Maldonado-Vazquez pushed her back onto the sofa as Johnson was pointing the gun.

Cicalo, tearing up, said she heard two gunshots and then everything went “blurry.” Her ears were ringing from the shots, and she felt like she was “looking through a filter.” She heard heavy breathing, which she thought was Maldonado-Vazquez, on the floor with gunshot wounds.

According to evidence and testimony, Johnson fired seven times at Maldonaldo-Vazquez, striking him six times in the liver, lung and heart.

A prosecutor, in his opening statement, said after Maldonaldo-Vazquez pushed Cicalo out of the way and attempted to grab the gun, Johnson accidentally fired one shot, hitting the wall. As Maldonaldo-Vazquez fell to the floor, Johnson stood over him and fired bullets into his body.

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

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