A 30-year-old man faces charges of first-degree murder after two Omaha men were found shot dead in separate Council Bluffs roadways last weekend.
Dequanta Zachary of Council Bluffs was taken into custody Monday and faces two counts of first-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. He is alleged to have shot and killed Deonte Ivory, 36, and Michael Anderson, 25, both of Omaha, before leaving their bodies miles apart in Council Bluffs.
According to a search warrant affidavit for Zachary’s phone, first responders were dispatched to the 2100 block of South 29th Street shortly early on April 28. A 911 caller reported he was leaving work at a nearby factory when he found an unresponsive male lying in the roadway with blood coming from his head.
The man, later identified as Ivory, was declared dead at the scene. His cause of death is believed to be a gunshot wound to the head, according to the affidavit.
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About seven hours later, first responders were dispatched to the intersection of 24th Street and Marketplace Drive in Council Bluffs to reports of an unresponsive male laying on the ground covered in blood. Anderson was declared dead when officers arrived at 7:08 a.m. He had been shot multiple times, according to the affidavit.
Utilizing license plate readers, investigators identified a dark-colored Dodge Charger with Ohio license plates that was located driving near both scenes from about 11 p.m. on April 27 until 12:30 a.m. on April 28. The Charger was found to be a rental car.
On the evening of April 28, the person renting the car called police to report the vehicle as stolen. She said her boyfriend, Dequanta Zachary, had taken the Dodge Charger on April 26 and did not return it, according to the affidavit.
The Charger was located April 29 in Mills County, Iowa, in an isolated area near Glenwood. The vehicle had bullet holes in the rear driver’s side door, according to the affidavit, and shell casings and apparent bloodstains were plainly visible through the windows.
Also on April 29, law enforcement requested cellphone location data from Zachary, which was provided by T-Mobile and placed him in the area of Blair, Nebraska. According to the affidavit, Zachary called police himself while in Blair and said he wanted to speak with officers. He was taken into custody by the Blair Police Department on an outstanding theft warrant.
In a voluntary interview with police, according to the affidavit, Zachary told officers that he was with Ivory and Anderson before their deaths, but said he dropped them off at a hotel on the evening of April 27 before doing drugs in the car alone until about 9 p.m. Zachary claimed the Dodge Charger was stolen out of the hotel parking lot by someone else overnight and denied any knowledge of Ivory’s and Anderson’s deaths.
Zachary is being held at the Pottawattamie County Jail.
What you missed last week in notable Omaha crimes and court cases
Last week's local crime and court updates from The World-Herald.
Council Bluffs police said Sunday that officers are investigating the deaths of two Omaha men found down on the west side of the city.
A 23-year-old Omaha man was booked into the Douglas County Jail on Saturday after being charged in an arrest warrant with motor vehicle homicide while driving drunk.
An Omaha woman wanted in connection with the thefts of historical plaques from Omaha's Central High School was arrested Saturday and booked into the Douglas County Jail.
An Omaha man was booked into jail Thursday after a dog was found abandoned in his apartment with serious injuries, including second-degree burns.
A police pursuit in Omaha ended with the arrests of two men Thursday.
A Valley man who appeared in the documentary "Baby Bodybuilders" in 2016 was arrested Thursday for allegedly recording himself having sex with two females without their permission, according to court records.
Omaha police arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of robbing a bank in southwest Omaha. He was taken into custody without incident at Pinnacle Bank on Tuesday.
Douglas County District Court Judge Shelly Stratman described the teen's fatal beating of 62-year-old Daniel Price in North Omaha on Halloween 2022 as "shocking" on Wednesday.
A 23-year-old Omaha man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of two counts of first-degree assault in connection with the shooting of two men in the Benson business district.
A 33-year-old Omaha man who pleaded no contest to being being an accessory to a felony in two 2019 shootings, including a homicide, was sentenced last week to what amounted to being time served.
Davon Brown’s sentence stems from the Aug. 12, 2022 incident when he shot and killed Shalonna Houston in an apartment in the Florence Tower.
Sarpy County Sheriff's Office deputies are asking for the public's help in locating the driver of a vehicle that seriously injured a pedestrian Tuesday night before leaving the scene.
The Sarpy County Sheriff's Office arrested 10 people in connection with a loud house party allegedly featuring drugs, alcohol and guns.
An Omaha man accused of strangling a woman to death in her apartment in 2022 pleaded guilty earlier this month to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.
The Omaha police and fire departments responded to a Target store at 72nd and Dodge Streets Monday night for a report of a man on the roof.