Sixteen-year-old Joseph Hopkins, a Caucasian male, was shot and killed on the night of January 31, 2020, in Mapleton, Iowa. Officers and emergency medical services responded to a 911 call at a residence on 306 South 5th Street and found Hopkins inside the home’s detached garage with a fatal injury. An autopsy by the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner determined the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the head and ruled the manner of death a homicide.

Three other juvenile males were present at the residence when the shooting occurred. The investigation involved the Mapleton Police Department, the Monona County Sheriff’s Office, the Monona County Attorney’s Office, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, and the Division of Criminal Investigation. On March 27, 2020, authorities arrested 17-year-old Jay Lee Neubaum of Whiting and charged him with first-degree murder; bond was set at $1 million and he was taken to the Woodbury County juvenile detention center. Prosecutors said the shooting followed an argument in the garage, while the defense said it was accidental; a jury later returned a verdict in May 2021.

Does anyone have information about Joseph’s last hours or who was at the garage that night?