Author: Yorke Prough

The Mt. Pleasant Utilities Office has announced that the water department will be working on a water main tie in today 9/24/24 from 4 pm – 8 pm on N. Adams St. from the Railroad tracks to Henry St. Water will be shut off in this area. Those close by may notice some interruptions or low water pressure. If you have any question, please contact the Mt. Pleasant Utilities office at 319-385-2121. They apologize for an inconvenience.

The Burlington Fire Department responded to the 1200 Block of Gnahn St regarding a female with a cut on her hand on September 23^rd. The female was taken to the Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center, where she told advised that the cut on her hand was actually a gunshot wound.

According to the female, a male had a gun to his head in her residence, and when she attempted to disarm him, she was shot in the hand. The male was identified as Colton Brown. Additionally, two children were inside the residence at the time of the shooting.

Upon further investigation by detectives of the Burlington Police Department, Brown was charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person and Two counts of Child Endangerment. The female was treated for non-life threatening injuries to her hand.

The Henry County Sheriff’s Office responded to a single vehicle collision on Sunday early morning. Responding units arrived to the site near mile marker 231 on Highway 34 outside of Mt. Pleasant around 3:30am. They found a Ford SUV with significant damage blocking the outside land of west bound Highway 34.

It was determined that the vehicle was driven by 18-year-old Brady McWhirter of Libertyville. The ford was being driven westbound when it left the roadway, entered the median, and struck a guardrail, which directed it to the outside lane.

No injuries were reported, and the vehicle was deemed a total loss due to the damage.  Mr. McWhirter was cited for failure to maintain control of a motor vehicle and for failure to prove security against liability.  The Henry County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Mount Pleasant Police Department.

A man who shot two people in Burlington, Iowa, and was found in Cedar Rapids with a firearm was sentenced September 19, 2024, to over four years in federal prison.

Kejonte Daishawn King, age 21, from Burlington, Iowa, received the prison term after a March 29, 2024, guilty plea to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

At the guilty plea, King admitted he was previously convicted in Wisconsin for robbery by threat.  King failed to appear for his sentencing in that case.  King was in Burlington on March 24, 2023, when he shot two people and then fled the area.  The Eastern Iowa Fugitive Task Force, led by the United States Marshals Service, found King in Cedar Rapids on April 18, 2023, with two firearms.  King was later convicted of willful injury and intimidation with a dangerous weapon and is still serving his prison sentence in that case.

King was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.  King was sentenced to an additional 54 months’ and 21 days’ imprisonment to be served concurrently with the remainder of his prison sentence for the Burlington shooting and consecutive to any sentence imposed for his Milwaukee robbery conviction.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.

King is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be returned to the Iowa Department of Corrections to complete service of his Iowa sentence and then be sent to a federal prison.