- 02/07/2025
When a gunman shoots Reggie Ward at a gas station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, witnesses and the victim’s girlfriend, are unable to identify the shooter. Investigators follow a trail of surveillance footage and GPS data to find an unexpected suspect.
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:009-1-1, there was just a shot fire on the end, what's the shot?
00:12Okay, is he breathing?
00:14They weren't sure whether or not he was going to make it.
00:18And I'm like, how, what happened?
00:21She said, he gone.
00:24Surveillance video is one of the most important thing is because that does not lie.
00:29We could tell that this was clearly a pursuit.
00:34This wasn't an accidental shooting.
00:37This was actually a planned out murder execution.
00:42Let's get past the I don't know stuff, okay?
00:45You want to tell us the truth?
00:59Hey, Reggie.
01:00Hey, what's up, man?
01:01What's up?
01:02How you doing, bro?
01:03Reggie was probably one of the most charismatic people that I think I've ever met.
01:08People just naturally were attracted to him.
01:09Reggie was working at his new job in the Quad City area.
01:13Hey, so how's the job going?
01:14It's going good, going good.
01:15Yeah?
01:16How are the kids?
01:17Reg has two children.
01:18He has two children.
01:19He has a son and a daughter.
01:23He loved his children.
01:25Lil' Ridge was silly.
01:26He still didn't take too much of anything serious.
01:30The only thing that he took seriously was fatherhood.
01:52The only thing that he took seriously was fatherhood.
01:55That's it. He was a serious father.
01:58Oh, they're growing up so fast.
02:01Reggie, is that who I think it is?
02:03His girlfriend, Kiera, had just recently moved to Cedar Rapids.
02:08And so he would just go out there to spend his time with her.
02:12And then he still had his own place in the Quad Cities.
02:17He just thought she was, like, real, like, amazing.
02:20Like, and he was kind of, like, starstruck by her.
02:23Like, he thought he, he thought he hit the lotto when he met her.
02:28Yo, I gotta go. I'll see you in a few days.
02:30Reggie, always a pleasure, man.
02:32I never thought that would be my last time to be in his presence or seeing him.
02:37We probably just thought it was just another day that we would go about our separate ways
02:41and we'll just see each other tomorrow.
02:50Hi, I'm at Come and Go on First Avenue.
02:54There was just a shot fired. A man was just shot.
02:56Okay, which Come and Go?
02:5832nd Street in Come and Go.
03:00I think he got shot in the leg.
03:01They put him in a car. He's in a car.
03:04What kind of a car?
03:06It's in a Monte Carlo.
03:11Is he breathing?
03:12Okay, I'm going to turn to be a medic.
03:24Uniform officers responded to the Come and Go.
03:31They determined quickly that the victim, Reginald Ward, was in bad shape.
03:38Reggie is bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to his upper leg.
03:41When officers first got there, Reginald Ward was still alive.
03:45And in fact, other bystanders who were there that morning had attempted to provide aid to him.
03:53Reggie's girlfriend, Kiara Morris, is with him.
04:01Officer Justin Kowinski is one of the first officers to arrive on scene.
04:05He gets a turban, wraps it around the leg to apply pressure.
04:08They got paramedics that come on scene.
04:13The paramedics take over.
04:15And they're doing everything they can to try to stop this bleeding, but they can't.
04:20EMS rush Reggie to the ER for treatment.
04:23An officer drives Kiara to the hospital to be with him.
04:26By the time I got to come and go, the victim, Reginald Ward, had already been transported to St. Luke's Hospital.
04:39I was notified by officers that seemed that Reginald Ward had a lot of blood loss.
04:45It appeared where the shooting happened, there were multiple shell casings.
05:00The car that Reginald Ward was in was a black two-door Monte Carlo.
05:05It was near the exit, and that's where they had stopped and attended to Reggie.
05:15I went and spoke with the manager.
05:20I'm Investigator DeVore.
05:21Tell us what happened.
05:22She said she was cleaning the pumps when she saw the two vehicles come into the parking lot and stop at the pumps.
05:31And she knew right away something was going on by the way they pulled into the gas station.
05:37They were coming in at a higher rate of speed than normal.
05:42And once they were stopped, Reginald immediately exited his black Monte Carlo
05:47and was in an argument with the driver of the gold sedan.
05:51So she retreated to the store, and by the time she was getting to the store,
05:57people were starting to say there was a shooting.
05:59I will need to see the surveillance.
06:03Come and Go should have the best surveillance video because the crime happened there.
06:08And it happened in a location where you think that the cameras would have caught the shooting.
06:15Start just before the incident.
06:16But there are cameras on this date in question of when the shooting occurred.
06:22There's a camera obstructed, and then another one of its cameras weren't even working.
06:29I can't see anything.
06:32I was expecting to see the shooter, also see the vehicle that was involved.
06:35Being an investigator and getting video surveillance that you would think would show the crime at a business,
06:46and it doesn't, can be very frustrating.
06:49Hey, you know, let's speak to the girlfriend.
06:50I went to St. Luke's Hospital to speak with a prime witness, Kiara Morrissey,
07:02and we were hoping that she would be able to tell us who did this.
07:07Hi, Kiara.
07:08I'm an investigator, Jake, and I need to ask you a few questions about what happened this morning.
07:12The doctor came in while I was trying to talk to Kiara.
07:21Reginald Ward was alive, but wasn't looking good.
07:25He was in what's called PDA, pulse-less electrical activity, when he came in,
07:30so he's not getting blood flow.
07:32Just tell me, is it kind of day?
07:36We got a heart rhythm back, and it's, it may be alive enough to go to the OR,
07:49but how his brain recovers after all that downtime is unknown.
07:54He could be badly stroked.
07:57Okay, all right.
07:58So it's definitely not good.
08:01Where was he shot?
08:03Do you know?
08:06Reginald Ward was shot in the lower left area near his groin.
08:14He was shot by this special ammunition called RIP.
08:19RIP, or Radically Invasive Projectile Ammunition,
08:23this ammunition is meant to cause as much damage to someone's internal organs as possible.
08:30This type of ammunition is not your normal 9mm ammunition that you would buy
08:35to go target shooting at a gun range.
08:39It is these special bullets that are designed when they enter into a body to split into multiple pieces.
08:49It was difficult, though, for Kiara due to the shock that she had just witnessed Reginald Ward be shot right in front of her.
09:03I don't want to talk.
09:05I don't want to talk.
09:05I don't want to talk and I'm not talking about anything right now.
09:12I have to think about my life.
09:19Investigators search the area around the crime scene for more surveillance cameras.
09:23We start looking at businesses in the area, and one of the closest ones was Flowerama across the street.
09:30They had a camera that was pointing towards Come and Go, and it also gets the entrance and exit location off of 1st Avenue.
09:54Start just before 8 a.m.
09:57There's the car.
10:18at 7 49 a.m. I observed Reginald Ward's black Monte Carlo entering the gas station
10:34it was being followed very closely by a gold-colored sedan
10:38they pull up to the pumps and stop we think we have this perfect view but there's this black
10:47pickup truck that's blocking a half of it punch in there we were able to enlarge the Flyorama video
10:58surveillance we're able to see Reginald Ward exit his vehicle he's identified because he has a white
11:10t-shirt on the individual in the gold car is wearing all dark clothing
11:14the two individuals kind of keep a brief distance from each other they're not face to face they're
11:22not in each other's nose to nose but there is definitely by the body language there's some
11:30words being exchanged we see here Morse get out of the passenger side trying to go after Reginald Ward
11:50play that again when Reginald gets shot he kind of bounces back a little bit towards his car
12:03he falls to the ground and Chiara helps him back into the vehicle
12:09the shooter gets back into his gold car and makes a fast exit from the gas station
12:24she starts to go past the gas pumps goes on to the south west side of the gas station parking lot
12:40abruptly stops
12:42Kiara exits the driver's side and runs around to the passenger store bystanders then emerge from the
12:59come and go and heads towards the black monitor car load to help Reggie
13:07can you clean that up we're hoping to not only see what happened but also try and get a license
13:14plate or a possible identification made on the shooter we were unable to get a license plate or
13:22description of the driver but we were able to get a description of the gold color sedan it was a Ford Fusion
13:29okay thanks
13:31across town Reggie's family learn about the shooting
13:40hello
13:52my cousin called me she said she says am
13:59the Reg got shot she like she's crying and I'm like how what happened
14:07she said I don't know I hang up the phone
14:14I scream
14:18investigators return to the hospital to speak to Kiara again
14:35we asked her what happened that morning
14:41Kiara said that she was on her way to work she tells investigators that she and Reggie left her
14:47apartment together
14:49did he stay all night with you last night
14:51when you guys were driving to work what happened on the way up to the gas station
14:58well nothing basically there was a car that we went to the gas station and they went to the gas station
15:05we asked Kiara to try and explain what had happened as we had told her that witnesses knew that she was right there
15:12from the confrontation that some of the witnesses talked about it was they said there might have been more to like what was going on like
15:19they can't know what's going on
15:26she really was difficult and didn't want to answer the question
15:53Kiara to me seemed like she didn't want to help us
15:58she was at the scene she saw the shooter
16:01we needed to expand our investigation further so we got a search warrant for Kiara's apartment
16:09the night we did the search warrant at Kiara's apartment
16:13we observed there was multiple surveillance cameras on the outside of her building and the local businesses
16:20all right
16:21why don't you go check out these businesses
16:23the apartment of Kiara Morse was searched in an attempt to find potentially any evidence that would lead us to a suspect of this shooting
16:38a suspect of this shooting check those covers
16:48hey
16:52we located some nine millimeter ammunition in a drawer in the kitchen
17:00the rounds found were different from the nine millimeter rounds that were actually used in the shooting
17:07hey
17:15we found a note that said I miss you and it was signed Todrick
17:22they don't know who Todrick is they don't have a connection what's going on is this potentially a connection to the shooting or is this some random note
17:37the next day we got a call from St. Luke's hospital that Reginald Ward had been pronounced dead
17:59when Reginald Ward died died we have something that went from a potential attempted homicide to a homicide case
18:16the news of Reggie's death reaches his friends
18:19I woke up and I seen some missed calls from my friend and I called them back to see you know what was going on
18:28I took it real hard it really hurt
18:33it was devastating
18:35Reggie was like my little brother hearing something had happened to him
18:41I kind of felt like it was on my watch
18:45my cousin called me
18:47and she said
18:49Zan
18:51he gone
18:53oh my god
19:00and
19:01I was like what
19:03what you mean he gone
19:06she said he gone
19:08and she screamed
19:10and I screamed
19:13and I cried so hard
19:17it's so hard
19:18and I'm like
19:19no
19:28Devor
19:29the day after the shooting
19:32we received an anonymous call
19:34saying that Kiara and her boyfriend Reginald were having problems with a ex-boyfriend
19:42this anonymous caller did name the ex-boyfriend as Todd Jenkins
19:49we then remembered the note we found in Kiara's apartment
19:53I'm Eshoo Todrick
19:55and we felt there was probably a connection
19:59thanks
20:01got a name
20:04when I learned that Kiara had problems with an ex-boyfriend
20:08that's a red flag to me
20:11we may have found a motive for Reginald's killing
20:16but we need to do more investigation and find out more information about Todd Jenkins
20:25we find that he's from Davenport Iowa
20:28which is about an hour and a half from Cedar Rapids
20:31when he had been previously arrested
20:34also in Iowa for misdemeanor crime
20:37where that crime occurred
20:39they took a .40 caliber pistol from him
20:42the trace on the firearm
20:45shows that it was purchased from a gun store in Davenport
20:49Hi, I'm calling for Cedar Rapids PD
20:52contacting that gun store
20:54we find that Todd Jenkins had recently purchased a Glock 9mm pistol
21:00we also found that he had purchased R.I.P. ammunition from this gun store
21:06R.I.P. you're sure?
21:09the same ammunition that was used to kill Reginald Ward
21:17this ammunition was so rare that even the gun shop owner said
21:21I've only sold one box to one person and it was this person Todd Jenkins
21:25Okay, thanks
21:26On Monday, November the 4th, we'd received video surveillance from Kiara's apartment building and local businesses
21:40Hey, take a look at this
21:42The video surveillance from Kiara's building
21:49it shows us a wide angle of the parking lot and the entrance into the building
21:54Kiara's apartment is only a few minutes drive away from the come and go where Reggie was shot
22:00at 7.51 a.m.
22:02Start at 7.45
22:04At 7.46 a.m. on the surveillance video
22:17We see two figures exit the apartment building and then get into a black Monte Carlo
22:23Punch it in
22:24Those two individuals we see is Reginald Ward and Kiara
22:33And we see them walk to the parking spot where Reginald's cars park
22:37Reginald get into the driver's seat
22:39Kiara get into the passenger seat
22:41We then see the vehicle start to back up from his parking spot
22:45Good thing
22:48As Reginald and the black Monte Carlo back out away from their spot
23:01On the corner of the building I notice a gold-colored sedan
23:05Back up and head towards the black Monte Carlo
23:09The gold Ford Fusion pulls up
23:12So that each car could see who's in the other car
23:21We see the black Monte Carlo leave the scene
23:27At that point the gold Ford Fusion spins around and we see it speed out of camera in order to pursue this Monte Carlo
23:38So after watching this surveillance footage
23:42We now know that the gold-colored sedan was pursuing Reginald in his black Monte Carlo
23:48We also have some footage from a local shop
23:53Scooter's coffee shop sits on the east side of the building
23:59This would be right beside the suspect vehicle
24:03Started earlier to find out when the car arrives
24:06At 7.26 a.m.
24:13We observed the gold-colored sedan drive through the parking lot at Kiara's apartment building
24:24And pull into the scooter's parking lot
24:27To see if they get out
24:31The gold-colored sedan had parked and stayed there for 20 minutes
24:36And the driver had not left this vehicle
24:39The driver had parked and waited for Reggie and Kiara to leave
24:43This wasn't an accidental shooting
24:48This wasn't by mistake
24:49This was actually a planned out murder execution
24:53Go back to where it pulls in
25:00We observed the gold-colored sedan pull into a parking spot
25:14Punch in there
25:15That's when we were able to see the license plate
25:30Check the license?
25:32We were able to locate the registered owner of the vehicle
25:37It was a relative of Todd Jenkins
25:40The car belongs to Todd's sister, Brianna Sanders Benavides
25:45Investigators put out an alert to locate the gold Ford
25:49The Davenport Police Department finds the vehicle in Davenport
25:55And abandoned on the street
25:58I contacted Brianna Vitavides about her gold Ford Fusion
26:03To find out who would have had the car in Cedar Rapids
26:06At the time of the murder
26:08In speaking with her, she does confirm that Todd Jenkins is her brother
26:12She wouldn't tell me, though, who had the car when it was in Cedar Rapids
26:17So a search warrant was obtained for the vehicle
26:22Our crime scene investigators search the car
26:26And find that it's been thoroughly cleaned by someone
26:31We do get a break, however
26:33And find that the car had what's called an infotainment center
26:39That infotainment center stores all the vehicle's data
26:43About where that vehicle was, where that vehicle went
26:46The GPS data confirms that the gold Ford Fusion was at the come and go
26:54At the time of the murder
27:03Investigators analyzed the Ford's movements before the murder
27:06For clues that could identify the shooter
27:08At 5.58 a.m. the vehicle stopped at the intersection of First Avenue and 11th Street in Cedar Rapids
27:18The vehicle stopped there for two minutes
27:23It went right next to Casey's located in the 1200 block First Avenue, which is two blocks away from Kiera's apartment
27:31I also know from my experience that this Casey convenience store has surveillance video
27:39I'll check it out
27:41I followed up with this information and went to the Casey's
27:46Hi, investigator divorce Cedar Rapids PD
27:53I need to review your surveillance footage for October 30th
28:01Can you start just before 6 a.m.
28:03Good to see you
28:18At 5.58 we're able to see this gold Ford Fusion on the front cameras
28:22We're able to see this suspect get out
28:27And then we see this suspect enter the store
28:30Have you got any cameras inside?
28:32And when he walks through the door, you're able to see who it is
28:48There, punching on his face?
28:57I was able to cross-reference his face with a driver's license photo of Todd Jenkins
29:08This person is Kiera's ex-boyfriend
29:11Todd Jenkins approaches the counter
29:24Cashes in two lottery tickets
29:28Then leaves the store
29:30On the exterior camera
29:32You can see Todd pull away in the gold color sedan
29:36And head towards Kiera's apartment
29:39Have you still got those lottery tickets?
29:45Thanks
29:46Not only do we have a picture now
29:48But we have the lottery tickets that he used that morning
29:52And he signs Todd Jenkins
29:55That's the break we've been looking for
29:58Now we knew the identity of the shooter
30:00And the past relationship and history with Kiera
30:04At this stage we were able to prove she was lying
30:08Because she knows who the shooter is
30:13While officers track down Todd Jenkins
30:16Investigators secure Kiera's cell phone records
30:20They review the calls from October 30th
30:23The day Reggie was shot
30:24There was a phone call two minutes prior to the murder
30:28Where Todd called Kiera
30:30This shows that he called while he was chasing Reginald Ward and Kiera Morrissey
30:35Down First Avenue towards the come and go store
30:41Also there's a text message from her to Todd Jenkins that says
30:46If you want to fight or shoot this man you have to be ready
30:53We realized Kiera was not telling the truth of what happened in the shooting
31:03Investigators go to her apartment
31:05Hi Kiera, how are you doing?
31:08What, what's up?
31:10Well we, we've tried leaving the messages and you're not returning our call
31:14Because I don't, I don't, I don't have time for that right now
31:18We're doing our job but can we come in and talk to you?
31:22Okay, sure
31:24We asked Kiera about a phone call at 7.47 a.m. just two minutes before the shooting
31:32Did you talk to Todd at that time?
31:35I don't know
31:36I can't remember
31:38I can't remember who I talked to for two minutes
31:41Let's get past the I don't know stuff, okay?
31:43You want to tell us the truth?
31:47I, I, I can only tell you what I know for a fact
31:51We asked her if she has spoke with Todd Jenkins since the shooting
31:54Probably, yeah
31:56We asked her if she has spoke with Todd Jenkins since the shooting
31:59Probably, yeah
32:00Well, when I'm talking
32:02How many times, how many times do you think you've talked to him?
32:05I don't know
32:06I've talked to a lot of people
32:08Well I know you've talked to a lot of people
32:09You've told me that over and over
32:11So, have you talked to him?
32:12Is he still in that report?
32:14I don't know
32:16I haven't done until I talk to him to you
32:18I don't know
32:20I haven't done until I talk to him to you
32:21I haven't done until I talk to you
32:24Kiara was to the point where she doesn't want to answer questions truthfully
32:32From my experience, I believe that Kiara was being evasive
32:37We're feeling comfortable that we can file our charges
32:41But we have no idea where Todd is
32:44He's basically went off the grid
32:46I need a warrant for Todd Jenkins
32:47Yeah, thanks
33:00When reviewing Kiara Morrissey's phone records further
33:04I found that she had called the Quality Inn in Aurora, Illinois on March 7th
33:10Hi, it's the Cedar Rapids Police Department
33:13Officers speak to somebody at the front desk
33:17They verify there is a Todd Jenkins staying there
33:20Can you send over your security footage?
33:25We received video surveillance footage from the lobby of this Quality Inn
33:35Hey, take a look at this
33:36Take a look at this
33:37Take a look at this
33:38Take a look at this
34:01It's Todd
34:03it's Keira
34:04you can clearly see todd jenkins and carl morrissey together in the lobby
34:25this does show that carl morrissey todd jenkins they're back together since this crime had been
34:31committed on october 30th of 2019. we threw to the u.s marshall illinois office we called in our
34:44u.s marshals to go to aurora to the hotel to see if todd was still there and todd was at the hotel
34:52with kira on march 26th 2020 u.s marshals take todd jenkins into custody
35:05he was transferred to the kennel county jail in illinois
35:11i did interview todd inside the jail
35:14well i'll take you back to uh october 30th of 20 2019. were you in cedar abbas that day
35:28no i was not you weren't no you remember where you were that day
35:33uh you know i was kind of hung over so kind of hung over yeah he would never admit that he was in
35:47cedar rapids i later showed him a still photograph of him inside the casey store
35:54in cedar rapids iowa on october 30th of 2019. why were you there i don't know who that is officer
36:11okay well that's you
36:15given all the evidence that had been gathered in this investigation
36:18and i knew that todd jenkins was lying the investigation clearly showed that he was the
36:25killer of retina ward we had charged kiara with accessory after the fact
36:34however we came up with this proffer agreement where kiara testified in court we were willing to
36:41dismiss the charge against her since she cooperated part of her deal it was we
36:48decided to dismiss the case against her so she has no charges she had no punishment and that she was
36:53free to go investigators find no evidence that brianna sanders benavidez todd's sister and the
37:00owner of the ford fusion had any knowledge of or involvement in reggie's murder she is charged with no
37:07crimes in may 2021 todd jenkins waves his right to a jury and opts for a bench trial
37:18in the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case where we had so
37:22much surveillance video that you can't contradict that prosecutors pieced together the events
37:30that led to reggie's murder reggie and kiara have been dating for over a year
37:35kiara's ex todd jenkins is jealous of their relationship he decides if he can't have kiara then
37:44neither can reggie on the morning of october 30th todd drives his sister's gold ford fusion
37:57he parks at scooters coffee under kiara morris's apartment building
38:04todd has with him the glock nine millimeter pistol and the r.i.p ammunition that he had purchased weeks prior
38:14he then puts his plan into action the moment that kiara and reggie exit kiara's apartment
38:22he pursues reggie and even calls kiara from behind the wheel
38:27kiara and reggie pull in to come and go todd follows
38:36what's up man you doing my girl bro what's up what's up todd confronts reggie
38:41and then shoots him
38:53todd then drives to muscatine where police believe that todd throws the gun into the mississippi river
39:00a judge finds todd jenkins guilty of first-degree murder on september 29th 2021 todd jenkins is
39:13sentenced to life without parole
39:18the surveillance video was invaluable in this case it allowed us to piece together this crime to see
39:26see how aggressive todd was in his pursuit that day of reggie and how
39:33set he was that he was going to confront reggie uh that day and kill him because of his jealousy
39:42building the case against todd jenkins we would not have got this conviction and i don't know if we
39:47would have got charges filed and never resolve the case without surveillance footage
39:58todd jenkins was an absolute coward
40:03you had to pull a gun and shoot my brother while he was walking away
40:09over a girl she meant that much and don't nobody got it now because my brother dead and you in prison
40:21for the rest of your life he's gone and no matter what i do or say or how i feel like he'll never come
40:30back and it's just something that i'm gonna have to live with so i got a tattoo for reggie it says llr and
40:37it stands for long live reggie as far as me moving on or dealing with la reggie's passing
40:46i have not i haven't i always have him with me
40:53always i haven't moved on and i don't know if i can
41:11next time on ceno evil there's a dead body on the side of the road it was very clear that she had been
41:18beaten up surveillance footage was really paramount in this investigation where'd you go i'm not sure
41:26well the camera doesn't lie
Recommended
41:31
|
Up next
1:39:46
42:11
0:52
50:10
40:52
1:20:47
0:16
25:41
43:04
42:56