Burlington, Ia (The Hawk Eye) The man accused of Shooting DeMarcus “Peanut” Chew was found not guilty on charges of murder Thursday at the Des Moines County courthouse.
At about 5 p.m., a Des Moines County jury found Ceaser Davison guilty on the lesser offense of assault causing serious injury, a serious misdemeanor, a crime for which he faces a year in jail.
The Hawk Eye reports that Davison was accused by Defense Attorney Lisa Schaefer of shooting Chew seven times on Sept. 10, 2017. The murder was committed to collect money from a hit placed on Chew by A.J. Smith, who had a long-running feud with the Chew family.
In Iowa, defendants can be found guilty of first-degree murder if they commit the murder or if they aid or abet the crime. However, the instructions read to the jurors in the Davison case did not include language for aiding and abetting.
Davison was initially charged with first-degree murder, for which he faced life in prison.
Davison also was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, a class D felony. Davison faces 5 years in prison for that crime.
