Trish Mehaffey

Samantha Bevans, accused of suffocating her stepmom in 2022, took the stand Thursday in her defense and denied taking part in the killing of Jodie Bevans, 58, of Palo. She blamed the slaying on her boyfriend, who was convicted of first-degree murder last year. But a rebuttal witness said Bevans demonstrated how she put the pillow over her stepmother’s face and used her foot to apply pressure.

A former assistant Linn-Mar track coach pleaded Thursday to sexually abusing a 17-year-old male student and a 15-year-old male student in 2021. He faces up to 14 years in prison.

The teen daughter of Samantha Bevans, who is accused of suffocating her stepmother with a pillow in 2022, testified Wednesday that Samantha called her the day of the killing to find out if the stepmother was with the family camping or if she’d stayed home.

The stepdaughter of a woman who was found suffocated in her bed in 2022 told investigators her boyfriend did it and she couldn’t stop him. He was convicted last year.

A Cedar Rapids man sentenced Friday to up to 50 years in prison for fatally shooting Jorge Maldonaldo-Vazquez on Feb. 15, 2023, in Cedar Rapids. Maldonaldo-Vazquez was trying to sleep and, after telling his roommate and her friend to be quiet, the friend -- Brannon Johnson, 22, of Cedar Rapids -- fatally shot him.

An Iowa City man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for shooting and paralyzing a victim last year in downtown Iowa City. He must serve five years before being eligible for parole.

A judge takes Iowa City teen, who is accused in drag racing fatality, off house arrest but continues GPS monitoring and adds a curfew and $30,000 bail. Off house arrest, the teen also won’t receive jail credit towards a possible prison sentence if convicted.

A judge convicted a Cedar Rapids man of first-degree murder Monday for fatally beating and stabbing his friend, Dennis First, in 2007. The bench trial was last month in Linn County.

Iowa courts put measures in place to make court interpreters a priority to provide non-English speaking defendants, litigants, witnesses and victims in criminal and civil courts with equal access to justice.

Eighteen-year-old Kesean Ford requested 24 hours of furlough to attend West High School’s prom on Saturday. Sixth Judicial District Judge Liz Dupuich denied the request, writing in the ruling that she is concerned about the safety of the public and the teen.

A Shellsburg man confessed to helping a Traer woman kill her husband in 2021. He was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder, about month after the victim’s wife was charged.

A Cedar Falls convicted sex offenders was charged with sexual assault of child and not complying with sex offender registry requirements. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison.

A Palo woman accused of killing her stepmom in 2022 is on track to start May 13 in Benton County District Court. She is accused of suffocating her stepmom while her boyfriend choked her.

A judge on Friday delayed the sentencing for Duval Walker Jr., convicted of first-degree murder in March, so his lawyers can talk to a woman who says she witnessed the March 17, 2023, fatal shooting in a Marion bar but had not been interviewed by police. A prosecutor, who resisted the delay, said they had talked to the woman and she identifies Walker as the shooter.

After a Cedar Rapids man and woman led police on a high speed chase in Linn and Johnson counties, they drove into the Cedar River in an attempt to wade or swim across in escape but officers were waiting to arrest them.