West Des Moines police charge teen with murder following Friday homicide

Tyler J. Davis
The Des Moines Register

West Des Moines police have arrested a teenager in connection to a rare homicide investigation in the suburban city. 

Eliazar Montoya Gama, 17, was apprehended and charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery, according to a news release from the West Des Moines Police Department. Police previously identified the Des Moines juvenile as person of interest in the case of Sakira Bonner, who was found dead in West Des Moines on Friday. 

Eliazar Montoya Gama

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Bonner, 18, was from Chicago but attended high school in Des Moines. 

West Des Moines police responded to a motorist's report at about 11:40 p.m. Friday of a woman lying in the road at South 64th Street and Coachlight Drive, west of Interstate 35 and near a busy retail and residential district. There, they found Bonner's body. She was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. 

As officers were en route to the scene Friday, they also received reports of gunshots fired in the area, according to a previous West Des Moines police news release. West Des Moines police Sgt. Dan Wade said Monday due to the ongoing investigation, he could not say how Bonner died, and could not say whether she was killed in West Des Moines or elsewhere.

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The young woman was remembered by local rapper and activist Will Keeps as a good listener, mature and "unbelievably cool."

"She wanted to really have an impact," said Keeps, one of Bonner's Scavo High School teachers last spring. "She came to my class all the time when she was at Scavo. She loved fashion. She was good people." 

"Everybody loved her. She didn't have no beef with nobody." 

Bonner's positivity was obvious in one video posted online. She took to Facebook to thank Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds for visiting Scavo. 

"We don't get this in Chicago, so I appreciate you for coming to Scavo and showing us that you appreciate us and that you listen," Bonner said in a May 2018 video addressed to Gov. Kim Reynolds while sitting next to her twin sister. 

Bonner's family could not be reached by the Register as of Monday evening. 

Gama was located by Des Moines police, Monday's release states, but was interviewed by West Des Moines police. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation has assisted as well. 

Wade said he could not say whether any other people are wanted in the case. There has not been a homicide in West Des Moines, a suburban city of more than 65,000 people, since October 2016, Wade said. 

Gama was booked at the West Des Moines Police Department and is currently being held at the Dallas County Jail. 

Anna Spoerre contributed reporting.

Follow the Register on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Tyler Davis can be contacted at 515-284-8378, tjdavis@dmreg.com or on Twitter @TDavisDMR.