Man Enters Guilty Plea in Fatal Breckenridge Trailer Court Shooting Trial

Norman Dudley pleaded guilty Monday to selling crack cocaine to an undercover Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement agent in the parking lot of a K-Mart store last August.

Authorities have said the transaction came days before undercover agent Daniel Stepleton went to an Iowa City mobile home as part of an undercover operation, where he was ambushed by masked men wielding weapons. Police say Ivan Hardemon pointed a gun to Stepleton’s head, but the agent managed to grab his own weapon and open fire.

Here is a review of what allegedly happened on the night of the shooting according to authority accounts:

An undercover law enforcement agent used "reasonable force" in a shooting during a drug sting that left a man dead on the night of August 16, according to findings from an internal law enforcement investigation.

The agent involved in the fatal shooting of Ivan Hardemon, 24, was identified as Daniel Stepleton of the state Division of Narcotics Enforcement. He was working undercover with a second agent at the Breckenridge Trailer Court Unit 7C, 4494 Taft Ave. shortly before 7 p.m. on Aug. 16, according to a statement from Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness.

According to the investigation, Hardemon directed the two officers into a trailer in Breckenridge, at which point two men with cloths covering their faces and hats on emerged from the back of the trailer carrying clubs and rods.

Hardemon pulled a black handgun out of his backpack and directed one of the masked men to pat down the agents. Stepleton had a handgun tucked into the back waistband of his pants.

Once the man felt the weapon, Stepleton leaned back against the wall to prevent him from taking it. Hardemon then pointed the gun at Stepleton's head, "actually touching Stepleton's head with the barrel, and made statement about shooting him."

Stepleton then pushed the weapon away and simultaneously retrieved the gun from his waistband and fired four times. The bullets struck Hardemon in the chest and arm, and DeMarco Dudley twice in the arm.

Hardemon, Dudley and the third man ran out the back of the trailer, across the street and to a vacant lot. Hardemon died in the back of the lot and the two other men fled.

Dudley, 22, was dropped off at the hospital by his brother, and was arrested after being treated. He was charged with first-degree robbery. 

Another of the four men, John Mulbah was apprehended soon after the shooting after a four-hour standoff with police. Mulbah was charged with felony cocaine distribution for selling 10.1 grams of cocaine for $850 to an undercover Division of Narcotics Enforcement Special Agent on Davis Street on Aug. 13 at 4:00 p.m., according to a criminal complaint.

The final man, Norman Dudley, DeMarco's brother, turned himself in on the following Sunday night. Police previously said he drove his brother and dropped him off an unidentified location. Norman Dudley was charged with felony cocaine distribution for selling 14.1 grams of cocaine base for $950 near the K-Mart at 901 Hollywood Boulevard at 5:39 p.m. on Aug. 14, according to a criminal complaint.