Third teen arrested in fatal shooting of 16-year-old in February

CEDAR RAPIDS — A third teen was arrested Friday in connection with the Feb. 18 fatal shooting in northwest Cedar Rapids of 16-year-old Michael Alexander McCune, who died from eight gunshot wounds.

Baynon Berry, 15, of Marion, faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, going armed with intent and a probation violation, according to police.

Berry will be formally charged in juvenile court, but Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said he would seek to have the case moved to adult court.

Berry is accused of conspiring with two other teens to kill McCune.

TraMontez Lockett, 16, of Cedar Rapids, was charged in March with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony, first-degree theft and going armed with intent. He remains in the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center pending trial.

Dante Irvin, 15, of Cedar Rapids, is charged in juvenile court with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and going armed with intent. The Linn County Attorney’s Office has filed a motion, seeking to move Irvin’s case to adult court, with a May 11 hearing set on that motion.

According to the criminal complaint, police found McCune with gunshot wounds around 11:30 a.m. Feb. 18 in the entryway of an apartment at the Tan Tara Apartments.

Lockett and one of those individuals were seen on video surveillance at the Kum & Go, 2604 16th Ave. SW, and identified as the two who stole a 2019 Toyota RAV4 from that location the day of the fatal shooting, according to the complaint.

Lockett and that individual met two others and all four went to the Tan Tara Apartments in the stolen SUV, the complaint stated.

McCune’s phone showed Lockett had been messaging him through Snapchat and had arranged to pick up McCune at the apartments, according to a search warrant affidavit and complaint.

Investigators found surveillance video of the stolen RAV4 near the apartment complex and of Lockett and two other individuals walking up to the complex, according to the complaint.

When the three saw McCune, the two individuals with Lockett started shooting at McCune. One of the individuals ran into the apartment building, continuing to shoot at McCune at close range.

Police reported multiple 911 calls started coming in about the shooting, and a witness described a gray Toyota RAV4 leaving the scene.

A medical examiner said McCune had been shot eight times and that the gunshot to the top of his head was not “compatible with survival,” the complaint stated.

On Feb. 28, Lockett was pulled over after leading police on a car chase in a different stolen vehicle. He admitted to police he had been with another person who stole the RAV4 but said he wasn’t the one driving, according to the criminal complaint.

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