Articles Tagged: Murder

It’s rare that teens and young adults commit murder, but four young Iowans are awaiting trial for just that. Two young men are charged with killing their families in Cedar Rapids, and two others charged in the death of their teacher in Fairfield.

A Cedar Rapids teenager charged with fatally stabbing his parents in October may claim insanity and diminished responsibility at trial. A defense attorney says it’s tough to prove and rarely successful in Iowa.

17-year-old Ethan Alexander Orton, charged with killing his parents with a knife and ax, is competent to stand trial, a judge said Friday. His trial is set for Feb. 8 but that may be reset, his attorneys said.

A judge Friday will determine competence of Cedar Rapids teen accused of fatally stabbing his parents. If found incompetent, the case will remain on hold until the teen’s competence is restored.

Reginald Little, 46, who killed a 21-year-old man during a 2020 drug robbery, was sentenced to life in prison Friday.

The trial for Roy Carl Browning Jr., 69, who is charged with fatally stabbing his wife in 2019, has been reset for the sixth time to July 12. A crucial witness couldn’t make it to the trial scheduled in February.

The prosecutor in the case of two teens accused of killing their teacher said in court documents they surveilled her, ambushed her along her daily walk and dragged her into the woods.

One Iowa City man was convicted by a jury and two others testified about the drug robbery that ended in the death of Kejuan Winters last year.

Drew Blahnik, convicted of killing Chris Bagley, will now go by the name of Johnny Blahnik Church. Court records will stay in his birth name.

Trial for a Cedar Rapids man charged in the fatal stabbing of a cabdriver in 2011 will now go forward after the U.S. Supreme Court denies review of an appeals decision. Trial is reset to May 20.

Jeremy Everett Goodale, the second of two 16-year-olds charged in the killing of Fairfield High School Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, wants his case moved to juvenile court. The prosecution has not yet filed a resistance to his request.

Trial reset to April 5, 2022, for Alexander Ken Jackson, a 21-year-old University of Iowa student charged with fatally shooting his parents and sister at their northeast Cedar Rapids home in June 2021.

Drew Blahnik’s sentencing is set for Dec. 17. He faces up to 57 years in prison.

Willard Chaiden Miller, one of the 16-year-olds charged with killing Fairfield High Spanish teacher Nohema Graber, wants his case moved to juvenile court. Prosecution argues because he is 16 and charged with murder, it’s excluded from juvenile jurisdiction.

A Cedar Rapids man, just before he was to be retried for fatally shooting Andrew Meeks in 2017, pleaded to lesser charges and was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison.