Johnathan Mitchell pleads not guilty to 2011 cab driver robbery in federal court

A Cedar Rapids man pleaded not guilty Monday in federal court to robbing a cab driver, who was stabbed to death that same night in 2011.

Johnathan Dewayne Mitchell, 38, appeared and was charged with one count of robbery affecting commerce. An indictment states Mitchell obstructed commerce - the cab company service - by 'violently” robbing Catherine 'Cathy” Stickley, 54, who was driving a Century Cab on April 29, 2011.

Mitchell was charged with first-degree murder in Stickley's death and first-degree robbery but he was acquitted on both counts by a Story County jury in 2013. The trial was moved from Linn County due to pretrial publicity.

According to testimony, Stickley was stabbed 18 times in the neck and head. Mitchell's prints were found in Stickley's blood in the cab. The prosecution claimed Mitchell needed money for crack cocaine and he killed Stickley to get it.

Mitchell was out on bond pending a 2010 assault when Stickley was killed. Mitchell admitted during the trial that he stole money from Stickley to buy crack cocaine but he said she was already dead, lying outside the cab on the ground in the 1500 block alley between Second and Third avenues SE.

Mitchell was the only suspect in the homicide and the case hasn't been reopened.

Christopher Petersen, Stickley's son who lives in Wisconsin, declined to interview with The Gazette last week when the indictment was unsealed, but later emailed a statement from him and his siblings.

'My family is filled with mixed emotions with some excitement for the latest development in our mother's case met with reservation and apprehension for the outcome of the latest charges against Jonathan,” Petersen stated.

In a 2014 Gazette interview, Petersen said based on the evidence, he believed the person who killed his mother was tried. He was frustrated because there would be no 'justice or recourse” for his family who lost their mother - 'our connection.”

Prosecutors said last week they couldn't comment on the case or explain why Mitchell has been charged five years later.

Greg Buelow, Cedar Rapids public safety spokesman, also declined comment. Cedar Rapids police investigated the murder and robbery.

Mitchell is currently serving five years in prison on a forgery charge in Johnson County.

After the acquittal, Mitchell was convicted and sentenced to seven years in January 2014 for a 2010 assault on Arvin Druvenga and a forgery charge in Linn County but was paroled in August 2014, according to Iowa Department of Corrections.

During a plea hearing, Mitchell admitted to beating Druvenga with a wooden handled tool Sept. 25, 2010 while Druvenga and his wife were sitting in their car watching a Coe College football game. At some point, Druvenga was standing outside his car talking to his wife when Mitchell came off his porch and started attacking the man, according to police.

Mitchell's trial on the federal robbery charge is set for June 20. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.