Mustafa Muhammad

A Marshalltown man was sentenced to life in prison without parole during a sentencing hearing Friday.

Mustafa Muhammad, 31, was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Blake Thomas. Muhammad and Thomas, who was 27, were involved in an altercation outside of an after-hours party on West Linn Street at approximately 3:30 a.m. on Mar. 15, 2020. Muhammad’s legal team argued he acted in self-defense when he shot Thomas six times, while the prosecution contended that Thomas was not armed and did not pose an imminent threat to Muhammad.

During the hearing on Friday, a victim impact statement was read, and Muhammad was ordered to pay restitution to the heirs of Blake Thomas. Ten days after Thomas was killed, his brother Robert shot and killed 22-year-old Johnqwez Lewis in an apparent act of revenge, and Robert Thomas has since been convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Assistant Marshall County Attorney Sarah Tupper, who prosecuted the case along with Marshall County Attorney Jordan Gaffney, said that despite the evidence against Muhammad, she wasn’t going to take a guilty verdict for granted. The Marshalltown Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) conducted a joint investigation into the murder.

“I think that cases are always challenging to prosecute no matter how good of a case it is because when you go to a jury, there’s always uncertainty,” she said. “The Marshalltown Police Department did a great job of investigating the case, so that helped the Marshall County Attorney’s office immensely in conducting a successful prosecution.”

A Marshall County jury also found Muhammad guilty of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and reckless use of a firearm causing bodily injury (both class D felonies) on Oct. 6. Each of those counts carries a five-year prison sentence and a $750 suspended fine.