The State Medical Examiner is ruling the death of a Tama County man as a homicide. Officials say Ryan Cooper was killed by a gunshot. Shortly after 4:30 early Friday morning, emergency crews responded to a home in the 1800 block of K Avenue–approximately five miles outside of Traer–after receiving a 9-1-1 call. Investigators say when first responders arrived on the scene, they found Cooper, a resident of the home, dead. The investigation is ongoing, and those with information are asked to contact the Tama County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities say there is no threat to the community.
Waterloo police arrested have charged a 36-year-old man with setting fires in a city park on Friday night. Jake Raymond Grinstead faces 3rd Degree Arson charges. Officials say witnesses saw Grinstead ignite dry grass in two separate areas in Lafayette Park. Officers say they found at least eight other spots in the park when fires had been started and apparently burned themselves out.
An Iowa City man has been accused of trying to kill another man during a recent shooting in Coralville. 23-year-old Mason Chance Edwards has been charged with Attempted Murder, Going Armed with Intent and Carrying Weapons. Police say on June 9th, Edwards confronted the victim inside a residence at Western Hills Mobile Estates. According to a criminal complaint, another individual was blocking Edwards from entering the room the victim was in when Edwards pulled out a gun, reached around that individual, and shot at the victim, hitting him in both of his legs. Edwards was booked into Johnson County Jail Friday on a $100,000 bond.
A divided Iowa Supreme Court has stopped a lawsuit challenging the state’s management of fertilizer and hog farm pollution in rivers and streams from going to trial. The 4-3 decision Friday dealt a significant defeat to the two environmental groups that sued. They were hoping to get the chance to prove that Iowa should scrap its voluntary farm pollution policy and order new mandatory limits on nitrogen and phosphorous pollution. It’s the latest court rejection of attempts to force the nation’s leading corn and pork producing state to clean up farm pollutants from its major rivers that provide drinking water to hundreds of thousands of Iowans.
A large portion of a controversial Waterloo city ordinance was struck down by the Iowa Supreme Court Friday. The Court struck down the part of Waterloo’s new “ban the box” ordinance that prohibits employers from making hiring decisions based on pending criminal charges without a legitimate business reason. What remained after Friday’s ruling is language that does not let employers ask about an applicant’s criminal history until after making a conditional job offer, since that information is generally publicly available. The ordinance only applies to businesses with 15 or more employees. Supporters claimed the measure was intended to ensure people with criminal convictions get a chance of getting jobs by encouraging employers not to discard applications only because potential workers check a box stating they have been convicted of a crime.
A divided Iowa Supreme Court also has banned police from searching people’s uncollected trash without a warrant. The investigative technique had been used for decades. The court ruled 4-3 Friday that officers commit an unreasonable search and seizure under the Iowa Constitution when they look through trash left for collection outside homes in search for evidence, saying the tactic amounts to an unconstitutional trespass on private property and violates citizens’ expectations of privacy. Dissenting justices warned that the decision is out of step with most states and outlaws a tactic often used to gather evidence of drug manufacturing and dealing.
An Iowa man charged in the killing of a 10-year-old girl who was missing for nine months before her remains were found in a pond has entered a plea of not guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping charges. Henry Dinkins entered the pleas last week in Scott County District Court. He’s accused of kidnapping Breasia Terrell from a Davenport apartment complex in July, fatally shooting her and hiding her body in rural eastern Iowa. Breasia was the half sister of Dinkins’ son, and investigators say both children were staying the night with him at the apartment where he was living with a girlfriend. The girl’s disappearance prompted a months-long search that ended in March when two people fishing near DeWitt discovered her remains.
Police say a Des Moines man accused of killing a 15-month-old child left in his care has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Officers were called to a Des Moines hospital Tuesday morning after medical workers reported that the child’s body had been brought in by family members. Police say it was evident to doctors that the child had been dead “for some time.” Detectives say they learned the child had been left in the care of 28-year-old Brandon Davon Greenup the night before and that Greenup became aware overnight that the child was unable to breathe and failed to seek medical help. An autopsy showed the toddler suffered injuries that someone had inflicted.
