In the early morning hours of January 28, 2022, the quiet of a Cedar Rapids, Iowa park was broken by a grim discovery. A school bus driver, navigating their route, spotted a figure lying unresponsive in Cedar Valley Park and stopped to help. The individual was 22-year-old Kavon Iberheem Johnson, a Black / African American male, who had been fatally shot. Police were called to the scene around 7:30 a.m.
and found him in the parking lot with obvious gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators quickly determined that Johnson had been targeted.
The investigation into Johnson's death soon became intertwined with another homicide that had occurred just a day earlier. On January 27, 2022, 19-year-old Cordal Lewis was found shot and killed in a residential street in southeast Cedar Rapids. The back-to-back killings of the two young men rocked the community and spurred a complex and lengthy investigation by the Cedar Rapids Police Department. As law enforcement delved into the cases, they began to uncover a connection between the two slayings, leading them to a single suspect.
The investigation led to the arrest of Kazius Childress. It was revealed that Johnson's murder was connected to the killing of Cordal Lewis the day before. Prosecutors stated that Kavon Johnson was a witness in the murder of Lewis. Surveillance video played a crucial role in the investigation, showing a vehicle matching the description of the one Johnson was last seen in entering Cedar Valley Park, followed by the sound of multiple gunshots. Childress later admitted to being present when Johnson was shot.
Kazius Childress was charged with both murders. In a court proceeding, Childress pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Kavon Johnson. He also pleaded guilty to the murder of Cordal Lewis. For the killing of Kavon Johnson, he received a 50-year prison sentence. This was in addition to the 50-year sentence he received for the murder of Cordal Lewis, resulting in a total of 100 years in prison. During the sentencing, the mother of Kavon Johnson gave an emotional statement about the devastating loss of her son. In a display of contempt, as he was being led out of the courtroom, Childress showed no remorse, yelling obscenities about both victims.
