AP/Hunter
05/13/21
Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden has cleared of wrongdoing a Cedar Rapids police officer who fatally shot a man suspected of stabbing a woman to death earlier this year.
The prosecutor’s office found Officer Kyzer Moore was justified in shooting 39-year-old Arnell States, of Cedar Rapids, on Feb. 20 as States ran from a hotel where two women had been attacked.
KCJJ previously reported that States was married to the murder victim, 34-year-old Katrina Brinson, and they both had been arrested for domestic abuse a day before the incident. Officers were called to a residence around 5am February 19th on reports of a domestic incident. Brinson accused States of strangling her, while States said he did it in self-defense because she was scratching his face. Because police were unable to determine who the primary aggressor was and since they both had injuries, they were both arrested and charged with domestic assault.
They were released later that morning after the county attorney’s office declined to file charges.
It was the following morning just before 2am when police were called to the Rodeway Inn to check on a disturbance and were directed by stabbing victims Brinson and another woman to a man running from the building. Officer Moore chased and shot States. Brinson died later at a hospital, while the other woman was treated and released. States died from the officer’s gunshots three days later.
Officer Moore has been with the Cedar Rapids Police for nearly four years.