On the evening of October 29, 2020, a shooting on the east side of Des Moines, Iowa, tragically cut short the life of 21-year-old Alston Troy Edwards, a Black / African American male. The incident, which marked the city's 20th homicide of the year, unfolded near the intersection of East 14th Street and Walker Street before 7:30 p.m. When police arrived at the scene, they discovered a 29-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her leg.
She received medical treatment and was subsequently released.
In the midst of the immediate chaos, Edwards had been gravely wounded, struck in the chest by gunfire. He was not transported from the scene by ambulance but was taken in a private vehicle to a local hospital. Despite the efforts to save him, Alston Troy Edwards succumbed to his injuries and died at the hospital.
Witnesses at the scene provided a description of the alleged shooter, leading to a swift response from law enforcement. Just minutes after the shooting, at 7:32 p.m., officers located and arrested a man matching the description inside a business in the 1400 block of Des Moines Street. The suspect was identified as 27-year-old Wesley Bekish. At the time of his arrest, Bekish was found to be in possession of a gun.
Following the investigation into the events of that night, Wesley Bekish was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Alston Edwards. In addition to the murder charge, he also faced charges of intimidation with a dangerous weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The shooting and the subsequent arrest brought a swift, though somber, development in a case that had suddenly and violently ended a young man's life.
