No arrests yet in Cedar Rapids homicide

Cedar Rapids police offered limited details Monday about the city's third homicide of the year.

Andre R. Herron, 30, was shot and killed Saturday night in the 800 block of Seventh St. SW, police said. Investigators confirmed two shots were reported in the area, and Herron was found in the street. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful, and Herron was pronounced dead at Mercy Medical Center.

“I heard a pop and thought it was a car backfiring,” said Donna Hunter, a nearby resident. “I looked out my window and saw a whole bunch of people in the yard running and screaming.”

Sgt. Cristy Hamblin, a police spokeswoman, said Monday no arrests had been made in the case. She said investigators had done “numerous” interviews, but those working the case were not even telling her many details.

“They're holding their cards really close to their chest on this,” Hamblin said.

Officers who rushed to the scene around 11 p.m. Saturday focused on an apartment house at 826 Seventh St. SW. Neighbors said police were often called the corner-lot residence.

According to police records, officers went to the apartment house 12 times this year before the shooting, mostly to check for subjects with warrants or on parole. Most recently, they were called there on Nov. 18 for a report of a suspicious vehicle. No arrests were made.

Herron's father, Albert Allen, of Chicago, told SourceMedia Group his son had moved to Cedar Rapids from Chicago about five years ago. He lived in a townhouse in the 1500 block of 12

^th

Avenue SE, police said.

"If anyone knows anything, please come up and let me know or let the police know, so we can get justice," Allen said Sunday.

On Monday morning, the street where Herron died was quiet, aside from some construction around the corner. A candle and a piece of blue paper with the letters “R.I.P.” on it sat next to a tree in front of the apartment house.

"We want closure," said Herron's cousin, Johnny Allen, of Chicago. "All we want is answers for the family."

A review of online court records shows Herron was in more trouble with the law this year than in years past. Since January 2011, he had been convicted of drug possession, public intoxication, disorderly conduct and interference with official acts.

The third homicide in Cedar Rapids equals the totals of 2010 and 2008. There were two homicides in Cedar Rapids in 2009.

On April 29, 2011 cab driver Cathy Stickley, 54, was stabbed multiple times in the 1500 block alley between Second and Third avenues SE after a cab ride. Jonathan D. Mitchell is charged with first-degree murder and is awaiting trial.

Almost two months later, on June 26,

Dexter L. Meeks, 22, was shot in his apartment building at 211 15

^th

St. SE. No arrests have been made in that case.