In the late afternoon of January 15, 2020, a burst of gunfire shattered the quiet of a Des Moines, Iowa neighborhood, leaving a scene of violence and unanswered questions. When police responded to a home in the Merle Hay area, they discovered a grim tableau in the garage: three men suffering from gunshot wounds. Two of them, 21-year-old Karyree Henderson, a Black male, and 28-year-old Damiko L. Carr, would not survive their injuries.
A third man in the garage was wounded, and a fourth victim was located by officers a few blocks away, having fled the scene.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly began, with detectives piecing together the events that led to the deadly shooting. The two surviving victims were identified as Michael Blackwell and Alonzo Kearney. In the initial stages of the investigation, police indicated that dozens of rounds had been fired, but it was unclear who had discharged the weapons. The motive for the shooting was not immediately released to the public.
Within days of the incident, one of the survivors, Alonzo L. Kearney, was arrested after his release from the hospital. His arrest was for Interference With Official Acts, as well as outstanding warrants that were unrelated to the shooting itself. This development added a layer of complexity to the case, suggesting that gaining cooperation from those involved was proving to be a challenge for law enforcement.
A few months later, in April 2020, another arrest was made in connection to the investigation, though it was not for the murders themselves. A man named Alex Arthur was taken into custody and charged with Obstructing Prosecution. Authorities alleged that Arthur had deliberately deleted a portion of video surveillance footage that was relevant to the homicide investigation. He was reportedly in control of the property where the crime scene was located. Despite these arrests for actions that hindered the investigation, the individuals responsible for the deaths of Karyree Henderson and Damiko Carr remained at large. As of the most recent available information, no suspects have been publicly identified or charged with their murders.
