Baseme brothers found not guilty in brother’s death

The Gazette

Feb. 27, 2026 5:14 pm, Updated: Feb. 27, 2026 5:40 pm

Azane E. Baseme, 23, reacts after the not guilty verdicts on all counts were read in the verdict hearing of himself and his brothers Christian F. Baseme, 30, and Pierre K. Baseme, 26, at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, February 27, 2026. The brothers were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter, assault causing serious injury and false imprisonment of their brother, Ezekiel Baseme, who they tied up and restrained to a bed with ropes and straps because he was being violent during the week before he died Nov. 8 or 9, 2024. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

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CEDAR RAPIDS — A Linn County jury on Friday afternoon returned a not guilty verdict in the involuntary manslaughter trial of three brothers accused in the November 2024 death of their younger brother, Ezekiel Baseme, 18, of Cedar Rapids.

The Baseme brothers — Christian, 30, Pierre, 27, and Azane, 24 — had tied down their brother when he became erratic and violent. He died after 40 hours of being restrained.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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