A Mason City man, awaiting a murder trial in the Black Hawk County Jail, was allegedly found with a shank last week, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. 25 year old Eric Hamilton II, formerly of Waterloo, has been charged with Possession of a Weapon in a Correctional Institution. Jail staff received a tip that he had a shank so they searched his cell and person but found nothing so they took him for a strip search and x-ray. Authorities say while en route, Hamilton slipped the weapon into a laundry bin outside the jail’s elevator. The shank was fashioned from a soap container and scrap of a T-shirt and had a ½ to ¾ inch long blade. In a jailhouse phone call Hamilton allegedly admitted to having the shank, saying he would rather get caught with a shank than have somebody come into his room and not have a shank. Hamilton allegedly assaulted another inmate back in October. He was put in jail after allegedly murdering 20 year old Keivon Anderson on November 21st of 2022. He is being held on a $1million bond. His trial date has not yet been set.
