Brian L. Goodwin, a 44-year-old White man from Davenport, Iowa, was killed during a violent double homicide on January 15, 2024. His girlfriend, Amy M. Smith, was also slain inside the residence they shared in the 5200 block of North Division Street. The crime remained hidden until shortly before 4:00 the following morning, when firefighters and police officers were dispatched to the home after someone reported a fire.
Smoke was rising from the residence when emergency crews arrived, and firefighters quickly brought the flames under control. During their search of the building, they discovered Goodwin and Smith dead inside.
The condition of the home and the victims immediately raised suspicions that the fire had not been accidental. Investigators determined that Goodwin and Smith had suffered fatal gunshot wounds before their bodies were exposed to the flames. Prosecutors later said the victims had been doused or covered with an accelerant and burned in an attempt to destroy evidence and conceal how they had died. Authorities classified both deaths as homicides, transforming what had initially appeared to be a fatal residential fire into an intensive double-murder investigation. Police records also showed that officers had responded to the address late on the preceding night following a report of a violent domestic disturbance.
The investigation soon centered on Adriana Blake and Devon Braet, two people who had been staying with Goodwin and Smith during the months before the killings. Prosecutors said the living arrangement had become tense and that Goodwin was preparing to make Blake leave the residence because he had grown tired of the problems surrounding her presence. Braet had also reportedly become a source of concern within the home. The state’s eventual theory was that Blake and Braet robbed and killed Goodwin and Smith, abused their bodies, and deliberately set the residence on fire to eliminate evidence.
On February 7, 2024, Davenport police announced charges against Blake, Braet and a third person, Melisa Weber. Blake and Braet, who were already being held on unrelated matters, initially faced two counts each of first-degree murder, along with robbery, assault, abuse-of-a-corpse, weapons and arson allegations. Weber was accused of helping after the killings and initially faced charges that included accessory after the fact, abuse of a corpse and arson. All three were taken into custody, ending the early investigative phase of the case and beginning a lengthy series of court proceedings.
Blake and Braet were originally scheduled to stand trial together in Scott County, but a judge severed their cases while the joint proceeding was underway. Blake’s trial continued first. Prosecutors presented evidence intended to show that the victims had been shot, robbed and deliberately burned, while Blake’s defense argued that her drug use and association with Braet did not prove that she was a murderer or an arsonist. Blake testified and denied responsibility, claiming that she had been in the shower when the shootings occurred and that Braet had possession of her telephone during much of the critical period. Her attorneys maintained that the evidence did not establish her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The jury rejected Blake’s account on May 30, 2025. She was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder for killing Goodwin and Smith, two counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of assault while participating in a felony causing serious injury, unlawful dominion or control of a firearm by a felon, two counts of abuse of a corpse and first-degree arson. On August 28, 2025, a Scott County judge denied her request for a new trial and sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was also ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution to each victim’s family.
Braet faced a separate jury after the trials were divided. His defense argued that Blake had acted alone, but prosecutors maintained that he had participated in the violence, the treatment of the victims’ bodies and the attempt to burn the evidence. On July 10, 2025, the jury found Braet guilty of first-degree murder specifically for Goodwin’s death. He was also convicted of two counts of assault, going armed with intent, using a dangerous weapon during a crime, two counts of abuse of a corpse and two counts of second-degree arson. Although he had been charged with murdering both victims, the jury did not convict him of first-degree murder in Smith’s death.
On October 15, 2025, Braet was sentenced in Scott County District Court to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The mandatory life sentence ensured that he would remain incarcerated for Goodwin’s murder. His conviction, together with Blake’s two murder convictions, confirmed the prosecution’s conclusion that the killings were not the actions of an unknown intruder but resulted from violence committed by people who had been living in the victims’ own home.
Weber ultimately pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact for assisting following the murders. She received two years of supervised probation. Her case reflected the efforts made after the shootings to conceal what had happened, while the far more serious murder and arson convictions against Blake and Braet established their criminal responsibility for the central acts of violence.
Beyond the court record, Goodwin was remembered as a father, grandfather, husband and working member of the Davenport community. He had earned an associate degree and most recently worked for Scott County in road maintenance. He enjoyed repairing cars, fishing and traveling to visit his children. His life ended inside a home that should have offered safety, and the intentional fire compounded the brutality of the shootings by attempting to erase the evidence of what had been done. The arrests, separate trials and eventual life sentences brought legal accountability, but they could not undo the loss suffered by those who knew and loved him.
