Adrian De'Prie Grover, an 18-year-old Black male from Fort Dodge, was fatally shot during the early morning hours of May 13, 2023, in the city's Pleasant Valley neighborhood. Although some early reports and court summaries listed May 12, his obituary and accounts published immediately after the shooting identify Saturday, May 13, as the date of his death.
Grover had graduated from Fort Dodge High School in 2022 and continued his education at Iowa Central Community College, where he studied welding. He had recently completed his welding degree and reportedly hoped to continue building a collection of educational accomplishments that would make his family proud.
At approximately 2:48 a.m., the Webster County Telecommunications Center received a report that someone had been shot near the intersection of 10th Avenue Southwest and 10th Street Southwest. Fort Dodge police officers arrived and found Grover unresponsive in the roadway with a gunshot wound. Officers immediately began providing emergency medical care until medics from the Fort Dodge Fire Department reached the scene. Grover was transported to UnityPoint Health–Trinity Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Court records later stated that he had been shot in the chest with a handgun at about 2:45 a.m. in the 1000 block of 10th Avenue Southwest.
The investigation moved quickly. A responding officer spotted a vehicle matching the description of one reportedly seen leaving the area and located it only a few blocks from the shooting scene. Police conducted a high-risk traffic stop and detained two people from the vehicle. Quanterious Leadeal Altman, another Fort Dodge teenager, was subsequently arrested in connection with Grover's killing. Authorities initially charged Altman with first-degree murder, a Class A felony that carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole upon conviction in Iowa. He was also charged with first-degree harassment after investigators alleged that he had pointed a gun at Taelore Presswood and made a threatening statement.
Altman entered a plea of not guilty in June 2023 and invoked his right to a speedy trial. His defense later requested that the proceedings be moved out of Webster County, arguing that publicity surrounding the shooting could make it difficult to select a fair and impartial jury. District Court Judge Angela Doyle granted the change-of-venue request, and the first-degree murder trial was transferred to Cerro Gordo County, with proceedings scheduled to take place in Mason City. The case, however, did not ultimately reach a jury trial.
On March 1, 2024, Altman accepted a plea agreement and admitted guilt to reduced and amended charges. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed with a dangerous weapon, willful injury causing serious injury while armed with a dangerous weapon, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. The agreement removed the possibility of a first-degree murder conviction and its mandatory life sentence, but it still left Altman facing decades in prison. The charges involving voluntary manslaughter and willful injury each carried potential 10-year prison terms, while the firearm charge carried an additional possible five-year sentence.
Altman was sentenced on April 15, 2024, in Webster County District Court. Judge Doyle imposed 10 years for voluntary manslaughter, 10 years for willful injury and five years for possessing a firearm as a prohibited person. Altman was also sentenced for a separate firearm conviction from May 8, 2023, and for a probation violation. The judge ordered all five sentences to run consecutively, resulting in a maximum prison term of 35 years. She said the lengthy sentence was necessary to protect the community, deter similar violence and give Altman an opportunity for rehabilitation.
The sentencing hearing became emotionally charged when Grover's father approached the witness stand carrying a large framed photograph of his son in his Iowa Central Community College graduation gown. During his victim-impact statement, he moved toward Altman, prompting relatives, officers and courtroom personnel to intervene. The courtroom was temporarily cleared, and Grover's father was escorted from the courthouse. After a brief recess, the hearing resumed, and Grover's mother and sister delivered their own statements before the sentence was announced.
Grover's death cut short a life that his family remembered as loving, ambitious and closely connected to those around him. He had been born in Waterloo on August 10, 2004, and was known by relatives and friends as “Do Lill” and “Du Bandz.” His funeral was held on May 26, 2023, followed by burial at Garden of Memories. The rapid arrest, Altman's guilty pleas and the consecutive prison sentences brought the criminal case to a legal conclusion, but the proceedings also reflected the lasting grief experienced by Grover's parents, siblings and extended family after he was found mortally wounded on a Fort Dodge street.
