In the early morning hours of September 20, 2020, in Fort Dodge, Iowa, 18-year-old Jlynn Beason was fatally wounded by gunfire while asleep in the back seat of a vehicle near the 400 block of South 14th Street. She was taken by private vehicle to UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center and later transferred to a Des Moines hospital, where she died on September 22, 2020.

Police identified 18-year-old Denharrio K. Lewil of Fort Dodge as the person who fired a semi-automatic pistol at the vehicle after a verbal altercation between Lewil and Jlynn’s brother, D’ante Whitfield. Lewil later said he believed Whitfield was armed and that Whitfield had walked toward him in a threatening manner; shots were fired at the vehicle and struck Jlynn, who had been asleep and was not the intended target.

Lewil was initially charged with attempted murder; after Beason’s death the charge was upgraded to first-degree murder. In February 2021 Lewil entered a plea agreement, pleaded guilty to amended counts of voluntary manslaughter and reckless use of a firearm resulting in serious injury (both Class C felonies) and carrying weapons (an aggravated misdemeanor), and received prison terms totaling up to 20 years. Beason’s mother, Jenny Whitfield, delivered a victim impact statement about the trauma and grief caused by her daughter’s death.

If anyone has information about events that night or knew Jlynn, please share what is known.