In the early morning hours of September 20, 2020, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, 18-year-old Jlynn Beason, a female, was fatally wounded in a shooting. The incident occurred near the 400 block of South 14th Street around 2 a.m. Beason was inside a vehicle when the shooting took place. She was transported to UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center by a private vehicle and later transferred to a hospital in Des Moines, where she succumbed to her injuries on September 22, 2020.
The
investigation quickly identified 18-year-old Denharrio K. Lewil of Fort Dodge as the suspect. According to police, the shooting stemmed from a verbal altercation between Lewil and Jlynn's brother, D'ante Whitfield. Lewil stated that he believed Whitfield was armed and began walking towards him in a threatening manner. In response, Lewil fired a semi-automatic pistol multiple times at the vehicle Whitfield was associated with. Jlynn Beason, who was asleep in the back seat of the car, was struck by at least one of the bullets. The shots were intended for her brother.
Initially, Denharrio K. Lewil was charged with attempted murder. However, following Beason's death, the charge was upgraded to first-degree murder. His bond was set at $1 million in cash. In February 2021, Lewil entered into a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to amended charges of voluntary manslaughter, a Class C felony; reckless use of a firearm resulting in serious injury, also a Class C felony; and carrying weapons, an aggravated misdemeanor. Following his guilty plea, Lewil was sentenced to a prison term of up to 20 years. The sentence included consecutive 10-year terms for the two felonies and a concurrent two-year term for the misdemeanor. During the sentencing, Beason's mother, Jenny Whitfield, gave a victim impact statement, expressing the profound trauma and grief her daughter's death had caused.
