Prosecutor says 2021 murder is about revenge, ‘a dish best served cold’

IOWA CITY — A prosecutor said the fatal shooting of an Iowa City man in 2021 was about revenge — particularly for a previous shooting — and the shooter’s failed attempts to hide his crime.

“Revenge is a dish best served cold” means Renard Winfield Jr., 32, of Gary, Indiana – who is accused of fatally shooting Tommy Curry, 31, of Iowa City, on April 28, 2021 – Curry didn’t expect to be pursued at the time. Instead, he waited and planned it, Johnson County Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Brunelle said in his opening statement Wednesday.

Curry waited in his black SUV in the parking lot of the Meadow Lark Apartment Complex, 2400 Lakeside Dr. on April 28, 2021. in Iowa City, on a woman he met on Plenty of Fish, a dating app, Brunelle told jurors.

Neither Curry nor Winfield lived in the apartment complex.

Curry thought he was texting with a woman, but was actually with Winfield, who lured Curry to that parking lot, Brunelle said. Curry had sent the woman several text messages, the last at 8:01 p.m., before he was shot.

“Enormous” amount of evidence

Winfield is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Curry. Jury selection began Tuesday in Johnson County District Court, and a jury was selected Wednesday morning. The trial is expected to begin next week.

Winfield was arrested in 2021, but his trial was postponed ten times due to scheduling conflicts and health issues.

The evidence shows Winfield had a gun and fired 15 9mm bullets at Curry in a car before fleeing. Neighbors heard the shots and called the police. Curry had died by the time police arrived.

Brunelle said this case has a “tremendous” amount of evidence. Investigators recovered 15 bullet casings at the scene and discovered ammunition of different brands, with five blue-tipped bullets being the same brand.

The evidence includes text messages exchanged between Curry and another number that told Curry where to go to meet a woman. Investigators eventually discovered the phone number was Winfield’s.

Brunelle said the state also has witnesses and surveillance camera evidence identifying a white Dodge Journey SUV registered to Winfield’s mother that left the scene after the shooting.

Revenge motive

The prosecutor said there was also evidence of revenge as a motive.

Winfield was shot and killed in Iowa City in June 2020, and Curry was the person at the center of attention in that case. He was never arrested because Winfield refused to cooperate with police.

Investigators forgot about the case because they couldn’t move forward, but Winfield didn’t forget, Brunelle said. Winfield found out Curry was on a dating app in January 2021 and decided to create an account posing as a woman. He arranged for the “woman” to meet with Curry in the parking lot of the Meadow Lark complex, Brunelle said.

“The revenge he had planned was served cold” because Curry, who was not armed, was unaware that Winfield was arranging the meeting, Brunelle said.

Videos, other evidence

Search warrants were obtained for Winfield’s mother’s home and her SUV in Indiana. Investigators found evidence in Winfield’s SUV while he was in Iowa City on April 27, 2021, and they found a backpack containing ammunition that contained the same brand of blue synthetic coding on the bullets as those found at the crime scene. Five of them were missing from the box.

Videos were found showing Winfield brandishing a 9mm gun and loading bullets with blue markings in Iowa City, Brunelle said. These bullets are only sold at a few select locations, including Scheel’s, and investigators obtained video from the store showing Winfield purchasing these types of bullets.

“Does that make sense?”

In the defense’s opening statement, Winfield’s attorney, senior defense attorney Michael Adams of the Special Defense Unit in Des Moines, reminded the jury of their duty, saying they were the judges of the case and it was up to them to decide what happened.

He also pointed out that the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Winfield killed Curry. Winfield has no burden. The presumption of innocence remains with Winfield until the prosecution proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Adams urged jurors to pay attention and listen carefully to the evidence and testimony. He told them to use common sense and not be afraid to ask, “Does this make sense?”

Witnesses heard shots and saw vehicles

During Wednesday’s testimony, witnesses who lived at the Meadow Lark complex testified about what they heard and saw on April 28, 2021.

Savannah Norton, who lived with her mother in a first-floor apartment, said her mother called 911 after hearing gunshots.

At the time, she was playing a video game and wearing headphones. She was standing near a window overlooking the parking lot and heard loud gunshots, louder than the shots in her video game, Norton testified. She then saw a white SUV leave the complex, less than a minute after she heard the shots.

Under cross-examination, Norton said she did not see who was shooting or whether the shots came from the SUV, but based on the timing of the shots, it was the only vehicle she saw leaving the complex.

Kevin Alvarenga, who also lived at the complex, had gone outside to give his friend a tool from his van and he first saw a black vehicle pull into a gap, then move and back into a gap. The driver didn’t get out.

Alvarenga said he was talking to his friend, they heard gunshots and he saw a person shoot multiple times at the black vehicle. The shooter’s face was covered with a mask, he said.

The gun was black and the shooter was also wearing black, Alvarenga said.

Alvarenga said he was scared and concerned for his safety and went back inside. When he looked outside, the shooter was gone.

Maria Alvarez, who also lived in the complex with her two children, said she was cooking when she heard what she thought were fireworks. She told her girls to look out the window to see her, but they didn’t.

When she looked out, she saw a white vehicle speeding away in the parking lot. She didn’t know what kind of vehicle it was, only that it was a “larger” vehicle.

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