Two women charged with attempted murder in 2019 shooting in Morrison

MORRISON – As the trial of a Morrison man accused of shooting two people in 2019 nears, two women who investigators say were his accomplices now also are charged with attempted murder.

Charges were filed Oct. 7 in Whiteside County Court against Jodie M. Knight, 21, a Chadwick native now of Clinton, Iowa, and Courtney J. Queckborner, 22, of Milledgeville.

They now are codefendants of Jeramie M. House, 27.

House has been in Whiteside County jail on $500,000 bond, accused of shooting a then-18-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman on Oct. 22, 2019, in Morrison.

House and the two women, who were in the car with him that day and so are considered by statute to be “legally accountable” for his actions, are charged with two counts of attempted murder, four of aggravated battery with a firearm, and two of aggravated discharge of a firearm.

Each faces faces six to 30 years in prison, with a possible 20-year enhancement, for attempted murder.

The four charges of aggravated battery with a firearm — one for each shot that hit the 18-year-old, and one for the woman’s wounds – also carry six to 30 years, and aggravated discharge of a firearm, filed for shooting “in the direction” of each victim, carries four to 15 years.

All require that 85% of the sentences be served.

House also is charged with possession of a gun while his FOID card was revoked, which carries a punishment of two years to five years.

His jury trial is set to begin Oct. 31 and is estimated to take two weeks. He hired Sterling criminal defense attorneys James Mertes and Cristina Buskohl.

Knight and Queckborner were given notices to appear at a hearing Wednesday.

They were not booked into the jail, and no bond was set. Their attorney status was unavailable Thursday.

House is a 2013 Unity Christian High School graduate. Knight was a Unity Christian senior at the time of the shooting. Queckborner was a 2019 Milledgeville High School graduate.

According to testimony at House’s probable cause hearing from then-Morrison Chief of Police Brian Melton:

A car pulled up to the curve at 507 W. Main St. shortly before 8:30 that Tuesday night. Knight, the front-seat passenger, called to the 18-year-old to let him know she was there.

He came out of the house, where he lived with several people, and walked toward the car; other people came outside at the same time.

As the 18-year-old approached the car, he was shot in the head, abdomen and leg.

The woman, who was behind him, was struck twice in the leg.

The 18-year-old, who was critically injured, told police that he and Knight had agreed on social media to hang out that night.

Queckborner was driving and House was in the back seat, behind her.

Knight and Queckborner told investigators that, as the 18-year-old walked up to the car, they heard gunshots coming from the back seat.

They took off east on Lincolnway/U.S. Route 30 and turned onto Norton Road, and as they fled, House dismantled a rifle and threw the pieces out the window.

They dropped him off at his SUV, then drove to the Sheriff’s Office, where they told deputies what had happened, led them to the area where the gun parts were tossed, and told them House was at his parents’.

Deputies found all three pieces of the rifle, along with two magazines taped together and some ammunition.

They went House’s parents’ home in rural Morrison around 1:20 a.m., where he surrendered, Melton testified.