Articles Tagged: Murder

A Cedar Rapids teen — accused of planning with three other teens to kill 16-year-old Michael Alexander McCune in 2023 — turned down a plea offer Friday for the second time

Judge will not move trial out of Linn County for Marion man who is charged with killing four people with a metal pipe last summer. His trial is set for April 8.

A 19-year-old Maquoketa man pleaded to theft and conspiracy charges for his participation in the fatal shooting of Michael McCune, 16, of Cedar Rapids, on Feb. 18, 2023. He faces up to 32 years in this case and a separate theft conviction.

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.

Tramontez Lockett, 18, of Cedar Rapids, will be the third teen to plead in the fatal shooting of Michael McCune, 16, of Cedar Rapids, on Feb. 18, 2023. His plea hearing is set for next week.

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.

The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the three first-degree murder convictions for Alexander Jackson, who killed his parents and teen sister in 2021. The court denied his arguments, saying there was “overwhelming” evidence to convict.

Baynon Berry, now 17, pleads to second-degree murder for fatally shooting Michael McCune, 16, on Feb. 18, 2023 in northwest Cedar Rapids. He conspired with three others to kill McCune over past rival gang and state training school conflicts, prosecutors said.

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 landlord found his first-floor tenant, Dorothy J. Rose, 43, lying face down in her apartment on Nov. 28, 2006. Police found Rose had been strangled with an electrical cord and another item. The murder remains unsolved but is being reviewed again by cold case investigators.

A judge, in two separate pretrial hearings Friday, said trials for Huston Danker and Karina Cooper, both accused of killing Cooper’s husband in 2021, will go forward. Danker will be tried Jan. 21 in Johnson County and Cooper on Feb. 25 in Linn County.

A Johnson County jury Tuesday found Renard Winfield Jr., of Gary, Ind., guilty of first-degree murder in what prosecutors called a revenge plot where Winfield posed as a woman to lure Tommy Curry, of Iowa City, to his death. The jury deliberated nearly four hours on Tuesday.

Renard Winfield Jr., of Gary, Ind., told police during an interview, he didn’t know or kill Tommy Curry, 31, of Iowa City, in April of 2021. He also denied being in Iowa at the time, even though investigators had evidence he was in Iowa City on April 28, when Curry was fatally shot.

Iowa City police investigators testify about numerious pieces of evidence, including cell phone data, surveillance videos and a video made by Renard Winfield, which they say showed he lured Tommy Curry to his death.

An Iowa City police officer testified Thursday some of the ammunition used to kill an Iowa City man is not typically found at crime scenes. Five bullets were “unique and more powerful,“ and able to penetrate metal.