Men connected to unsolved Cedar Rapids homicide will serve federal time on drug, gun charges

Three men whom police said were seen leaving a northwest Cedar Rapids home last year after a fatal shooting were sentenced in federal court on firearm and drug charges.

The three and another man whose sentence is pending were at 1045 G Ave. NW, on Sept. 10 when Bryan Ahmaad Edwards, 32, was shot and killed, according to court documents.

None of the men, however, has been charged in the homicide. The case remains an open and active investigation, Cedar Rapids police said last month.

Federal authorities indicted the four on firearm and drug charges.

The co-defendants:

• Cecil Howell, 45, previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful drug user and sentenced to over three years

• Treundes Howell, 28, Cecil's nephew, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful drug user and was sentenced to seven years

• Keith Moore Jr., 30, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful drug user and was sentenced to more than two years.

Prosecutors asked the court to hold Cecil Howell, who denied being involved in Edwards' death, responsible for the homicide. That would have enhanced his prison time and required him to pay victim's restitution.

The remaining co-defendant, Derek Hughes-Doby, 29, set for sentencing June 22, testified last week during Cecil Howell's sentencing, claiming Cecil fatally shot Edwards that night. He said he was there with Cecil and the three others to retrieve Cecil's clothes from the residence when Cecil got into a fight with Edwards and pistol-whipped him, Hughes-Doby said. The gun went off, he said, hitting Edwards.

U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade said based on the evidence, including Hughes-Doby's testimony, and other witness testimony at the hearing, she couldn't determine that Cecil Howell was the shooter. She said the evidence wasn't sufficient to prove who fired the shot.

The federal indictment shows all the men were drug users at the time, and between them they had a Glock .40 caliber pistol, a .22 caliber pistol and a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber pistol.

Witnesses who were neighbors of the G Avenue house, testified at Howell's hearing last week about seeing four men running down the driveway and seeing what they described as a fight before hearing a gunshot.

One neighbor said she also heard someone yell, 'I'm going to (expletive) kill him,' and then heard a 'pop.'

Investigators found a slide-lock mechanism for a .22-caliber gun at the crime scene. Police stopped the four men in a sport utility vehicle a short time after the shooting and found a .22 caliber with a missing slide-lock outside the vehicle. Officers heard it hit the ground when the vehicle stopped. Officers also found two .40 caliber guns inside the vehicle, along with marijuana. The men said they had been at a shooting range in Swisher earlier in the day.