Witnesses Testify In Dubuque Murder Trial

A pair of Dubuque residents testified Thursday to witnessing a fatal point-blank shooting outside their Central Avenue home in the ongoing murder trial against the man accused of firing the gun. 32-year-old Keywani Evans of Freeport, Ill., is charged in Iowa District Court of Dubuque County with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in relation to the fatal 2022 shooting of 20-year-old Taiwon Jackson Jr., of Dubuque. Couple Lindell Smith and John Holston Sr., of Dubuque, testified to hosting a barbecue on June 4, 2022, in the green space behind their Central Avenue home and witnessing the shooting. Prosecutors allege Evans shot Jackson in the back of the head and then twice more in the face. Defense attorneys do not deny Evans’ involvement but previously filed court documents arguing the shooting was carried out “in defense of others.”