On a tragic Saturday morning in Davenport, Iowa, the life of a 26-year-old Black / African American man, Jeramie Leonte’a Shorter, was cut short by gunfire. The date was August 1, 2020, and Shorter was at the Weerts Funeral Home on Jersey Ridge Road for the visitation of his own 8-year-old son, Jermier, who had recently succumbed to cancer. What was meant to be a time of mourning turned into a scene of violence when a shooter opened fire in the parking lot.
Shorter was grievously
wounded and rushed to a nearby hospital, but he did not survive his injuries. The shocking event unfolded around 11:30 a.m. as family and friends were gathering to pay their respects to the young boy. Witnesses at the scene reported a man with a handgun and provided a description of the vehicle he used to flee, a vehicle that was later identified as an Infiniti sedan without license plates.
The Davenport Police Department quickly responded to the emergency calls. An officer spotted the suspect's vehicle and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver sped away, leading to a high-speed chase through residential neighborhoods. For safety reasons, the officers initially disengaged. However, their investigation soon led them to a residence on West 15th Street.
There, they located the suspect, 24-year-old Nuemonei Tre Vonne Laster of Davenport. Laster attempted to escape on foot, but was apprehended by the officers. During the foot pursuit, he was seen throwing a bag that contained a firearm over a fence. Due to prior felony convictions, Laster was prohibited from possessing a gun. He was taken into custody and subsequently charged with first-degree murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and eluding law enforcement. While a specific motive was not publicly released, court documents indicated the act was willful and premeditated, and Laster later admitted to the shooting. In a subsequent court appearance, Nuemonei Laster pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and intimidation with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after serving ten years, and was also ordered to pay $150,000 to Jeramie Shorter's heirs.
