DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A third teenager charged with murder in a drive-by shooting death of a 15-year-old boy outside a Des Moines high school in March has agreed to plead guilty to lesser crimes. The plea agreement accepted by a state court judge on Monday may allow 18-year-old Gumaro Marquez-Jacobo to avoid prison time. He will plead guilty to charges including being an accessory after the fact and providing a pistol to a person under 21. Prosecutors will recommend a suspended sentence and two years of probation at a sentencing hearing on May 30. Two others have entered plea agreements, leaving five other teenagers to face murder charges as adults and two in juvenile court. The March 7 shooting killed 15-year-old Jose Lopez and injured two girls.
CHILLICOTHE, Iowa (KCRG) – At approximately noon Tuesday, the Wapello County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report that a house in the 300 block of High Street exploded. Deputies arrived and found a male near the residence injured. He was airlifted to the University of Iowa Hospitals. He has not been named and his condition is unknown. The cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
NEVADA, Iowa (KCRG) – A crane operator is being hailed a hero after using their steady hands to help lift a person who fell 25 feet into a concrete tank at an industrial construction site. At approximately 8:06 p.m. Monday, emergency crews were called to the 62000 block of 270th Street for a report of a person falling into a concrete tank. Responders on scene accessed the tank and started providing care and stabilization to the injured person. Access to the tank was difficult because the plant was under construction. According to the Nevada Fire Department, a system of ropes, carabiners, a stokes rescue basket, and a crane on site were used to perform a delicate rescue. The operator lifted the injured person out of the tank to a waiting ambulance. The injured person was taken to a nearby hospital for medical evaluation. His condition is not believed to be life-threatening. The crane operator was not named in the police statement, but they did say that the operator was very “calm under pressure.”
SHERRILL, Iowa (KCRG) – The man that died after a tractor rollover on Sunday in Dubuque County has been identified. The Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office said 43-year-old Thomas Schmitt, of Dubuque, died after being pinned by the tractor he was driving at about 7:39 p.m. The incident happened in the 13000 block of Hammerand Road east of Sherrill. First responders were able to get Schmitt out from under the tractor and took him to MercyOne Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. The incident remains under investigation.
