CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) — The Linn County Sheriff’s Office reports Brent Brown, the fourth victim of an attack that killed three others on Wednesday in rural Linn County, has died from his injuries. Johnson County Medical Examiner pronounced Brown dead on Friday. He was 34 years old.

Luke Truesdell is now charged with four counts of first-degree murder. Officials said the attack happened on Wednesday, where police found three people – Romondus Cooper, Keonna Ryan and Amanda Parker – dead in an out building at the 3600 block of East Otter Road in northern Linn County.

Investigators said Truesdell admitted to beating four people with a metal pipe. Truesdell is expected to make an appearance in court on Monday on that new, fourth charge of first-degree murder.

Brown’s body will be transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Ankeny for autopsy. The investigation into this incident continues.

(Hartford, Iowa) – One teenager died and two others were injured Sunday night in a rollover crash in central Iowa’s Warren County. The Iowa State Patrol reports a 2004 Toyota Camry Solara was traveling north on 200th Avenue west of Hartford at around 9:22-p.m., when the vehicle went out of control near Delaware Street and entered the west ditch.

The car overturned and vaulted over a driveway before rolling over again, and ejecting two of the three occupants. None of the crash victims were wearing seat belts. One of the car’s occupants – a 15-year-old – was flown by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in Des Moines where they died from their injuries. Two teens – ages 15 & 16 – were transported to Mercy and Blank Hospital’s respectively, in Des Moines by ambulance. No names were released.

The crash remained under investigation.

(Radio Iowa)- Iowa Democratic Party chairwoman Rita Hart says the party is focused on reaching out to over 92-thousand Iowans who voted as Democrats in 2018, but did not cast ballots in the 2022 election. “We didn’t lose them to Republicans,” Hart says. “….That’s what we have to turn around and that’s what we’re bound and determined to turn around between now ’til November.” All four of Iowa’s seats in the U-S House are held by Republicans and Republicans currently hold sizable majorities in the state legislature. Hart predicts Democrats will field candidates in around 80 of the 100 seats in the Iowa House.

“Which is very encouraging and we’ve got candidates all across the state that are stepping up,” Hart says, “and a lot of our candidates have been inspired to run because of the many things that are happening at the state level that are very concerning to folks.” Hart cites both the state-funded accounts for private school students and Area Education Agency changes that Republican lawmakers approved as concerns. Hart also says Iowa Republicans are out of sync with the general public on the abortion issue.

The only statewide race in Iowa this November is between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. A Des Moines Register Iowa Poll conducted in March found 29 percent of those surveyed approved of Biden’s job performance. Hart says Trump is morally compromised and Democrats have a good story to tell about Biden’s presidency. “The contrast here is pretty stark,” Hart says. “The American people and Iowans recognize that we are looking at a Republican Party that is struggling to get behind their nominee.”

Hart made her comments during a weekend appearance on “Iowa Press” on Iowa P-B-S. The Iowa Democratic Party’s state convention is this Saturday, June 15th. The Iowa Republican Party’s state convention was held May 4th.

(Iowa News Service): New data rank Iowa seventh in the nation for the overall health and well-being of its kids. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s “Kids Count Data Book” shows while Iowa did well among many of the 16 key indicators, some areas need improvement. The report focuses in part on educational indicators and shows a drastic drop in the performance of the state’s public schools, which are historically among Iowa’s crown jewels. Iowa Common Good Executive Director Anne Dichser calls the school’s performance numbers “concerning.”

Iowa dropped to 17th in fourth-grade reading proficiency and 16th in eighth-grade math proficiency. The research used numbers from the 2022 school year, and Discher says some of the lower scores could be a lingering effect of the pandemic. She adds policy solutions are in place to address the deficiencies. The state also improved in the category of “Family and Community Issues.”

For the first time in more than 20 years, Iowa slipped as the leader in high school graduation rates into a tie for seventh among the states. Discher says the poor school performance numbers hit especially hard in a state that has a reputation for making its public schools a top priority.

The state saw important improvements in the “Kids Count” numbers. Fewer children are living in poverty and in single-parent families. The teen birth rate also dropped.