Prosecutor asks court to merge street brawl cases for mother and son  

CEDAR RAPIDS - A prosecutor is asking the court to consolidate two separate cases involving a mother and her son, who face different charges stemming from the same street fight that ended in a fatal shooting and injuries.

Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said Friday during a hearing that there should be one trial for Kenyauta Vesey-Keith, 17, charged with first-degree murder and his mother Saresa Keith, 40, charged with misdemeanor child endangerment, carrying weapons and assault while using a weapon, because they both were involved in the brawl on March 19, 2016, in the 1100 block of Maplewood Drive NE.

The two lawyers for Vesey-Keith and his mother argued against the motion, saying their clients would be unfairly prejudiced by the others' case. The son faces serious felony charges, which could result in life in prison, and his mother is charged with misdemeanors and much less jail time, if any, they argued.

In addition to the murder charge, Vesey-Keith also is charged with attempted murder, willful injury causing serious injury and intimidation with a weapon. He is accused of fatally shooting Brandon Johnson, of Cedar Rapids, during the fight, a criminal complaint shows. At least a dozen adults and juveniles were fighting during the incident.

Police said Vesey-Keith got a gun from a vehicle and fired multiple rounds, with bullets hitting two people. Johnson was killed and Deaveon Gaudlin, 16, was seriously injured.

Saresa Keith is accused of bringing her son to the fight that police believe was prearranged.

Authorities said Saresa Keith used a stun gun during the brawl.  

Police said the fight was a continuation of a dispute that began with a melee in the Lindale Mall food court in February 2014. That fight turned into an ongoing rivalry between two families and their friends, police said.

Vander Sanden on Friday argued the rules of criminal procedure would allow the court to try the cases together, as long as they are accused of participating in the same act. Both cases stem from the same incident involving identical witnesses and essentially the same evidence, he pointed out.

Vander Sanden also argued that if each had trials, Vesey-Keith's on July 10 and his mother's on July 17, it would be difficult to impanel fair and impartial jurors for both trials because of the media attention.

Shawn Fitzgerald, Saresa Keith's lawyer, argued the cases are nothing alike. The only thing the same is they occurred on same night and in same place, he said.

Fitzgerald said if the cases are merged, 80 percent of the witnesses wouldn't be involved in Saresa Keith's case. He also said there has been no media coverage of her case, so seating a fair and impartial jury isn't an issue.

Todd Weimer, Vesey-Keith's lawyer, said he agrees with Fitzgerald and believes the media coverage would increase if they were tried together, which could bring about a change of venue.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Kevin McKeever didn't make a ruling Friday. He took the matter under advisement and plans to issue a written ruling at a later date.

l Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com