Cedar Rapids man will serve 5 years in prison for strangling woman, kicking 4-year-old

By Trish Mehaffey, The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS - A Cedar Rapids man was sentenced to five years in prison for kicking a 4-year-old boy and then strangling the child's mother until she nearly passed out.

Zachery Butrick pleaded guilty in March to child endangerment resulting in bodily injury and assault causing bodily injury (domestic abuse-strangulation) in Linn County District Court.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Christopher Bruns sentenced Butrick to five years on each count but ran them concurrently for a total of five years in prison.

Butrick kicked the child in the head and punched him in the chest, and when the mother intervened, Butrick punched her in the face, held a knife to her neck and then strangled her until she nearly passed out.

Butrick said he remembered arguing with the woman and pushing her but then 'blacked out.”

Tom Viner, Butrick's attorney, argued that Butrick had mental health issues and needed treatment.

First Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks argued for prison time, saying these were violent offenses and if Butrick had mental health issues, he could receive treatment in prison.