Protestors call for arrest in fatal Cedar Rapids stabbing

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Protestors are continuing to push for an arrest after the death of Devonna Walker.

29-year-old Walker was fatally stabbed in Cedar Rapids on Jan. 2. KCRG-TV9 received a video showing Walker and two of her neighbors shouting at each other. One of those neighbors used a racial slur, the “n-word.” Shortly after, there was a scuffle. It appears then that Walker was stabbed. No arrests have been made in the case, but activists hope to change that.

About 40 people gathered at the Lindale Mall Saturday, before marching to the intersection of First Ave. and Collins Road. There, they split into four groups, one for each corner, and chanted to the cars going by.

“We’re protesting for an arrest of Devonna Walker’s Killer,” Angelina Ramirez, vice president of Advocates for Social Justice and a leader of Saturday’s event, said.

The protest is not the first advocates have had in the aftermath of Walker’s stabbing, along with a town hall and other meetings.

“It’s exhausting. It’s exhausting to organize this, emotionally and physically. It takes up people’s time,” Ramirez said. “It’s a worthy enough cause to do that, which is why we’re out here week after week.”

Friday, Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks released an updated statement in which he recognized the Walker case as important, acknowledged the “disgusting, hateful, and vile language” in the video showing Walker’s death, and said he expected to make a decision about charging someone with a crime at by the end of February.

At Saturday’s protest, Ramirez said, “We appreciated some of the sentiments he had in that letter. We understand he’s trying to do his job. I hope he understands that we are also doing ours as the citizens of the county, of Linn County.”

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