Trish Mehaffey

A psychologist testifies how the mental status of Denzel Wilson affected his decision to fatally shoot Kenyauta Vesey-Keith on June 11, 2023. A rebuttal witness said Wilson told her he shot Vesey-Keith for revenge.

Denzel Wilson, on trial for first-degree murder, testified Monday he felt threatened by Kenyauta Vesey-Keith at a bar and shot him because he saw Vesey-Keith reaching for a gun in his waistband or pocket.

She hadn’t wanted to go out, night seemed ‘off’

A prosecutor, in his opening, said Kenyauta Vesey-Keith was fatally shot in 2023 over rival gang “animosity” that has continued since 2016 when Vesey-Keith killed another man during a street fight. Denzel Wilson is on trial this week for first-degree murder.

A second Iowa City teen who was drag racing in 2023 pleaded Tuesday to one charge of vehicular homicide in a crash that killed a Waterloo woman on May 23, 2023. He faces up to 10 years and is eligible for a deferred judgment. But the prosecution will ask for a prison term.

An Indiana man was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Tommy Curry, 31, of Iowa City, in 2021. Prosecutors said it was revenge killing.

A Linn County jury took only 90 minutes to convict a Hiawatha man of human trafficking a 17-year-old Dubuque girl. The teen testified last week Jarod Anderson, 35, of Hiawatha, had forced her to have sex with multiple men in May 2024 and also sexually abused her.

A Marion man wants his confession tossed out because investigators violated his rights. Investigators didn’t read his rights until 40 minutes into his statement, according to motion to suppress.

Explicit photos, messages about prostitution on his phone weren’t his, he says

A Hiawatha man, during a police interview, said he had nothing to do with prostitution or sex trafficking a Dubuque teen, but an investigator testified his phone showed numerous conversations with customers wanting sexual acts in exchange for money.

A Cedar Rapids woman testified she met a Hiawatha man, who is on trial this week for human trafficking, after she was “past rock bottom” and agreed to work as a prostitute for him. She said he recruited a 17-year-old to work with her.

A federal judge sentenced a Wisconsin man to 12 years for stealing a California man’s identity for 35 years. He also must pay a $10,000 fine and restitution to the victim.

A Johnson County jury convicts a Cedar Rapids man of strangling and sexually assaulting a woman who was walking home on Oct. 7, 2023. He sexually assaulted her outside a downtown bar.

The case against Jarod Anderson, 35, which got underway this week in Cedar Rapids, is the first in Iowa under a 2023 law that increases the penalties for human trafficking of a minor to a Class A felony — punishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole.

An 18-year-old pleaded guilty this week to sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl last March. He faces up to 10 years in prison. His sentencing is set for March 24.