Fellow teen arrested, charged, in shooting death of 15-year-old Senquez Jackson

CEDAR RAPIDS - For the third time in less than a year, a Cedar Rapids teenager faces charges in connection with a shooting death.

Police announced Wednesday that a 13-year-old boy has been arrested and charged in what they describe as the unintentional shooting of Senquez Jackson, 15, last month in a southeast Cedar Rapids home.

The 13-year-old, identified by authorities as Dennis Warren, was arrested Tuesday night at the Cedar Rapids Police Department and taken to the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center, according to city public safety spokesman Greg Buelow.

Warren faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, carrying weapons, preventing apprehension and obstructing prosecution.

Buelow said the investigation into Jackson's death is ongoing and declined to release additional information about the charges.

Police Chief Wayne Jerman said last month that investigators were 'looking at the possibility of it being an accident” but would not elaborate.

Jackson died March 19, less than 24 hours after police, fire and emergency responders were called to 1424 Bever Ave. SE for a shooting.

Jackson, a freshman at Washington High School, was found inside suffering from a gunshot wound. He died at St. Luke's Hospital.

An obituary said he was active in sports and enjoyed playing video games, being with his dog, Buster, and hanging out with friends and his family.

The day after Jackson was shot, Cedar Rapids police responded to another call involving a weapon being fired - a brawl that escalated into a fatal shooting on Maplewood Drive.

Brandon Johnson, 21, was shot and killed during that fight; a 16-year-old was shot and injured.

Police arrested 16-year-old Kenyauta Vesey-Keith in connection with those shootings. He now faces charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Last September, 14-year-old Robert Humbles was arrested in connection with the shooting death of 15-year-old Aaron Richardson. Humbles was originally charged with first-degree murder, but later pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, reckless use of a firearm resulting in serious injury and going armed with intent.

After the two latest fatal shootings, community leaders and activists gathered at City Hall to decry ongoing gun violence and suggest ways of curtailing it - including encouraging parents to be active in prevention.

One of those who attended, Rita Robinson, a member of the Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association, said Wednesday that the Jackson shooting illustrates how two lives are destroyed.

She said her daughter had attended Jackson's funeral and that Warren - whom she described as a close friend of Jackson's - also attended and was distraught.

'He has been very remorseful. At the funeral, he wailed and begged for forgiveness, from what I was told,” she said.

She said she did not think it was proper to charge the boy with what authorities have maintained was an unintentional shooting.

'Because the kid should have not have had the gun period, if I go back to my original statement in The Gazette: Where are the parents? The only way these kids are able to get a gun are illegally on the street, or in possession of what a family member had,” she said.

'We are going to ruin this young man's life.”

Alex Boisjolie of The Gazette contributed to this report.