Lang
12/3/21
The father of an Iowa City murder victim accused of attempting a revenge killing has reached a plea deal.
Online court records show 42-year-old Tyris Winters of Peoria, Illinois entered a guilty plea on Wednesday. Winters and 40-year-old Tony Watkins of Davis Street in Iowa City are accused of confronting another man at the Super 8 Motel on Hayden Fry Way in April of 2020. Police say Watkins and Winters sought out their victim to confront him about Winters’ son’s death. Both suspects are now accused of firing handguns at the victim before fleeing on foot.
Winters’ son, 21-year-old Kejuan Winters of Iowa City, was shot and killed the previous day inside his Broadway Street apartment. Three men are currently facing murder charges in the case. Police records do not indicate if one of those men was the one confronted by Watkins and Winters.
Winters and Watkins were each charged with Attempted Murder. If convicted, they each would have faced a maximum of 25 years in prison.
Terms of Winters’ plea deal have not been released, although new charges of Going Armed With Intent and Willful Injury Causing Bodily Injury have been added to his and Watkins’ case files.
Winters will be sentenced on January 21st. Watkins has a case management conference set for January 7th.