Police have charged a Waterloo man with murder in the death of another man who had been acquitted of killing the suspect’s brother. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports police on Monday charged 20-year-old Raymond Birden Jr. with first-degree murder in the May death of Shavondes Martin. In February, a jury acquitted the 22-year-old Martin of murder. He had been one of three people charged with the 2016 drive-by shooting of Birden’s brother, Otavious Brown. Police also have detained Martin’s cousin, 22-year-old Danaesha Martin, on a murder warrant in Shavondes Martin’s death. She was returned to Iowa on Jan. 7 and remains at the Black Hawk County Jail. Jurors convicted one person in the death of Brown. They found 17-year-old Doncorrion Spates guilty of murder, attempted murder and intimidation with a weapon.
