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CEDAR RAPIDS — The mother of a 20-year-old Marion woman who was kidnapped and killed on Feb. 17 testified Tuesday her daughter had a mild intellectual disability that caused her to process things as a 14- or 15-year-old would, and made it more difficult for her to understand social situations because she was trusting of everybody.
Megan Hoffman, formerly of Marion and now of North Liberty, said her daughter, Melody Hoffman, volunteered at an animal shelter and was a compassionate and trusting person.
Melody met McKinley Louisma, 23, of Hiawatha, in October 2023 on a dating app and soon became involved in a relationship with him. They spent a lot of time together and Megan said she regarded him as a polite and helpful young man. They seemed to have a good relationship.
Megan even allowed Louisma to stay over with Melody at their home. Louisma was her first and only boyfriend.
Megan said she didn’t know what happened, but Melody and Louisma broke up before Dec. 7, 2023. She testified she thought Melody broke it off because Louisma had started lying to her. He would tell Melody he was coming over but never showed up. It started happening more frequently.
Megan said she advised her daughter to break it off because she knew he was going to have a baby with another woman, Nakia Svoboda, and he wanted to be a father.
Louisma is on trial this week for first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony in the torturing and killing of Melody Hoffman. He is charged with two others — Dakota Van Patten and Logan Kimpton — in her death.
The trial is expected to continue into next week.
Victim received threatening text message month before killing
Megan Hoffman said Melody’s split from Louisma was amicable and she returned Louisma’s items that he left with Melody on Jan. 7. Everything went smoothly and there were no issues, until Melody received a threatening text from a number she didn’t recognize.
Megan said her daughter’s number wasn’t available to anyone she didn’t know and she had a good idea who it came from but had no proof.
The text, displayed for the jury, told Melody she was a “dead girl” and “when you least expected [sic] it we’re gonna get you.” The text also told Melody she and her family “ain’t safe” and they would “paint your whole house red.”
Megan said she and Melody were scared and they went to stay in North Liberty with Melody’s father.
Megan reported it to the police, but nobody was arrested.
At some point, Melody started talking to Louisma again, but they were only chatting as friends, Megan testified.
Mother tracked victim’s location, found her phone in the road
Because of Melody’s disability, Megan testified that she always tracked her phone and other electronics using two different location apps. Megan also had a camera set up in her living room, so she could watch when Melody had someone in the house. The location apps enabled Megan to track her daughter’s movements on Feb. 17, leading up to her slaying.
The two of them had dinner and watched a movie and then both went to bed about 11:14 p.m. on Feb. 17, but Megan said Melody was leaving the house about 11:27 p.m. The living room camera showed Melody leaving. Megan was alerted on her phone and immediately sent a text to her daughter, asking her where she was going. Melody said she would be back.
Megan continued to track her daughter on an app and could see she was going to Morgan Creek Park, on the west edge of Cedar Rapids, and then to the Cherry Hill area in northwest Cedar Rapids. Louisma’s family lived near Cherry Hill Park and the two had gone to Morgan Creek Park in the past, Megan testified.
Melody’s location then came back Marion, about two blocks from the apartment where she and Megan lived. Megan said she received a Snapchat from Melody after 1 a.m. and she said she was on her way home. Melody asked her to leave the door unlocked. Melody’s location was turned off at 1:17 a.m. on Feb. 18.
Megan said she didn’t think Melody was the one sending the text messages because Melody didn’t spell out words on texts, and she wouldn’t have asked her mother to leave the door unlocked because she always had her key.
Megan received a crash detection notification from Melody’s phone at 3:13 a.m., on the ramp on Highway 100 from Edgewood Road. Melody’s aunt also received the notification and went out to check for a crash, but didn’t find one.
Megan testified she sent Louisma a Facebook message about 3:39 a.m., asking if he was with Melody. She said he replied that he wasn’t, and when she asked more questions be didn’t respond.
Megan drove out to the “crash” site about 4 a.m. and parked. She sent messages from Melody’s iPad to her phone, and after hearing an alert outside the car, she found Melody’s phone on the roadway. Megan said she searched Melody’s social media accounts and texts to see if there were any clues about her daughter’s location, but she found nothing.
Eventually, Megan said she drove to the Marion Police Department on Feb. 18 to report her daughter missing. Police took her daughter’s phone to investigate the tracked locations.
That morning, a special agent from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation told Megan they’d found Melody’s body. They also found Melody’s phone case and glasses during a search of a suspect’s home.
On cross, Megan said she didn’t know her daughter was pregnant or had been pregnant.
Defendant’s ex says he left home in a ski mask and work boots
In other testimony, Nakia Svoboda, 22, of Cedar Rapids, testified she was in a long-term relationship with Louisma. They met on a dating app in 2020. He chose the Lily Pond in Amana, where Melody Hoffman’s body was found, for their first meeting back in 2020.
Svoboda testified their relationship was on again, off again, and they broke up for periods of time over arguments about not keeping jobs. She said Louisma would be jealous of her.
Louisma and Svoboda broke up on July 4, 2023 and she started seeing Matthew Clark, but Svoboda said she remained in contact with Louisma over the three months she dated Clark.
Svoboda said she initially didn’t know Louisma was in a relationship with Melody. Louisma never mentioned her. Later, she knew he was dating her, but she testified he broke up with Melody when Svoboda told him in December 2023 he must choose between them.
On Feb. 17 — the day Melody was killed — Svoboda said she and Louisma were living with Svoboda’s grandma. Svoboda was pregnant but she said she didn’t know if Clark or Louisma was the father. Louisma believed the child was his, Svoboda said.
That day, Svoboda had complications with her pregnancy and her grandma took her to the hospital. Louisma joined them later.
When Louisma arrived, Svoboda said he was “acting off and wasn’t himself.” He was on his phone watching videos and wouldn’t answer her.
Later that night, Louisma told her he was going to his parents’. He had a ski mask with him, which she said was odd, and he was wearing work boots.
She tracked his location through a phone app after he left, but the location turned off at some point. She didn’t recall what time. Svoboda said her calls to him kept going to voicemail and he didn’t answer her text messages.
He returned home between 2 and 4 a.m. on Feb. 18, Svoboda said. She didn’t see his ski mask when he returned. Louisma gave her hug and kiss and she smelled smoke on him. She testified she thought it was strange because he doesn’t smoke.
According to court documents, Louisma was seen on a surveillance camera smoking cigars with Van Patten after they allegedly killed Melody.
Svoboda said Louisma was sitting on the floor and watching videos on phone. Again, he wouldn’t answer her. She said he was a “little shaky” and didn’t say anything.
On cross, Svoboda said she had her baby in April. Clark was not the father, and Louisma hasn’t had a paternity or DNA test.
Svoboda testified that Kimpton gave her grandma a machete for protection, and that Louisma kept a machete in his car for protection.
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