Shakopee Man To Be Sentenced In 1999 Murder Of Iowa Woman
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An August sentencing has been scheduled for a Minnesota man accused of killing a woman in Iowa in 1999.
Court records say 37-year-old Deshaun Phillips, of Shakopee, Minnesota, entered an Alford plea to a voluntary manslaughter charge Thursday in Linn County District Court in Cedar Rapids. In an Alford plea, a person doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a likely conviction. His sentencing is set for Aug. 29.
Phillips originally was charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Judith Weeks. Weeks' partially clothed body was found April 5, 1999, outside a vacant Cedar Rapids apartment. An autopsy concluded the 44-year-old woman had been struck in the forehead by a sharp object.
Authorities say Phillips lived in the area at the time of Weeks' death.
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