A Cedar Rapids man has pleaded guilty to attempted murder after a dead body was discovered in his car in 2023.
On October 3, 2023, Iowa State Patrol troopers found Jihad Gasaway’s vehicle on the shoulder of westbound I-80 near Grinnell. Gasaway claimed his car had stalled and needed a jump start, and he voluntarily surrendered a gun to the troopers.
While searching the vehicle, officers found the body of 26-year-old Kemp Harriel in the passenger seat, hidden under a pile of clothes. Bullet casings matching the gun Gasaway handed over were also found at the scene. An autopsy confirmed that Harriel had been shot to death.
Gasaway was initially charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. After multiple delays in his trial, he accepted a plea deal on January 23, 2025.
In his plea, Gasaway admitted to attempted murder, willful injury causing serious injury, assault while participating in a felony causing serious injury, and abuse of a corpse. He faces a sentence of up to 55 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 10, 2025.
