Defense for Marion man says a fair and impartial jury can’t be selected in Linn County because the pretrial publicity. The news articles and coverage has reported unsubstantiated information. Prosecution argues news articles have been accurate and reported facts in the case taken from criminal complaints and court documents.
Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks shared year-end stats for 2024, which showed significant decreases in violent and serious crimes. The five felony prosecutors also successfully prosecuted 10 homicides last year and have more on their plates this year, as their caseloads continue to top the national average per attorney.
A Cedar Rapids man pleaded to child endangerment charges for breaking his infant son’s ribs, legs and holding his throat, preventing him from breathing because the child wouldn’t stop crying. He admitted to police multiple acts of physical abuse. He faces up to 35 years in prison.
A judge on Friday sentenced McKinley Louisma to life in prison without parole for the kidnapping, torture and strangulation of Melody Hoffman, 20, of Marion, on Feb. 17. Melody’s mother said her daughter would want her to forgive Louisma but she couldn’t.
A Cedar Rapids man, who had history of sex abuse and sex offender registry offenses, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for soliciting an individual he believed was a 14-year-old boy, but it was actually a police officer posing online as a teen.
A Marion man, who pleaded to lesser charges, was sentenced to five years in prison for sexually abusing an 11-year-old child in 2022. The girl, now 14, said she still has panic attacks and depression and doesn’t trust anyone, especially men.
The autopsy of Melody Hoffman, 20, of Marion, showed blunt force injuries all over her body, along with five stab wounds and numerous cutting marks on her back. A medical examiner also said Hoffman may have been pregnant at the time of her strangulation or recently had a miscarriage, which could be a possible motive for the Hiawatha man on trial for kidnapping and murder.
Marion police investigators testify about traffic camers and cell tower locations used to track Hiawath man and his co-conspirator accused of kidnapping and killing Marion woman on in February.
The mother of a 20-year-old Marion woman who was kidnapped and killed on Feb. 17 testified Tuesday she always tracked her daughter’s phone and other electronics because Melody Hoffman had an intellectual disability that made it more difficult for her to understand social situations because she was trusting of everybody.
The murder trial for McKinley Louisma, accused of kidnapping and killing Melody Hoffman, 20, of Marion, started Monday in Linn County. The prosecutor told the jury her slaying was “depraved and dehumanizing.”
A Marion father strangled to death his 5 year-old son after staying up most of the night contemplating how he would kill him. One way was using knives, which police found during a search of the home.
The mother of Cordal Lewis, who was robbed and fatally shot in 2022, told a woman involved in the plan to rob him that ended in murder, that she wanted her to “suffer” and feel “heartbreak and emptiness” as she and her family have endured.
A Marion woman who was kidnapped, stabbed and strangled to death in February was pregnant or had been recently pregnant before her death, according to information revealed during a Friday pretrial hearing in Linn County District Court. The lawyer for one of the men accused in that slaying asked a judge to keep that information out of trial.
A 14-year-old boy who admitted to firing a handgun at a police officer in May pleaded to three felonies and six misdemeanors. He was prosecuted as a youthful offender and will be sent to the Boys State Training School in Eldora until he turns 18.
A Cedar Rapids man who attempted to solicit sex from a 14-year-old boy, who was actually an undercover police officer targeting child predators online, pleaded guilty Thursday. He faces up to 14 years in prison. He was one of seven arrested in the police sting.
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