THE DARK SIDE OF IOWA
Derek Higgins
#6230245
photo courtesy Newton Daily News
Full Name: Derek Joseph Higgins
DOB: October 13, 1987
Charge: Attempted murder
County: Jasper
City: Ira
Current Status: Fort Dodge Correctional Facility
Date of Crime: March 30, 2010
Tentative Discharge Date: October 14, 2031
Victim: Kathy White
DOB: October 13, 1987
Charge: Attempted murder
County: Jasper
City: Ira
Current Status: Fort Dodge Correctional Facility
Date of Crime: March 30, 2010
Tentative Discharge Date: October 14, 2031
Victim: Kathy White
Shawna Severini, Derek Higgins, and their daughter lived in a house belonging to Shawna in Ira, Iowa. In early March 2010, Derek told Shawna if she and Derek ever broke up, he would kill her parents.
On the evening of March 30, 2010, Shawna’s mother, Kathy Clark, drove Shawna to the Ira house in Kathy’s large, four-passenger pickup truck. While Shawna and her mother were inside the house, Derek came home. Shawna and Derek began arguing. Kathy left and waited in the driver’s seat of her truck while Shawna and Derek continued to argue. While Shawna watched, Derek took a knife out of his pocket, cut up a food stamp card, and put the knife back in his pocket. Derek took several loads of his belongings to his vehicle. Shawna took a laptop computer and got in the passenger seat of the truck. Shawna and Kathy waited in the truck for Derek to leave because Shawna was worried Derek would do something to the dogs or burn down the house.
As Derek approached the truck, Kathy locked the doors. Shawna’s window was open a few inches. Derek stood outside the truck on the passenger side and told Shawna to give him the laptop. At some point, Kathy called 911. Derek pounded on the passenger window with his fist. Shawna did not see a knife when Derek was pounding on the window. On Derek’s fourth hit the window shattered and Derek hit Shawna in the jaw and knocked her unconscious. Derek then lunged through the window, lay on top of Shawna and began repeatedly stabbing and slashing Kathy in the face, chest and abdomen. Kathy dropped her cell phone. The 911 operator heard screaming and dispatched the police.
Derek’s attack on Kathy was vicious. He slashed and stabbed her repeatedly, concentrating his efforts on her face and chest. Kathy testified in court: “He looked like he was looking and aiming and stabbing.” Derek inflicted twelve separate wounds. He stabbed Kathy three times in the chest and once in the rib cage. He slashed her face and neck and her sternum was fractured. Kathy’s treating trauma surgeon testified that had Kathy not been transported to the trauma center, she could have died from her injuries.
On the evening of March 30, 2010, Shawna’s mother, Kathy Clark, drove Shawna to the Ira house in Kathy’s large, four-passenger pickup truck. While Shawna and her mother were inside the house, Derek came home. Shawna and Derek began arguing. Kathy left and waited in the driver’s seat of her truck while Shawna and Derek continued to argue. While Shawna watched, Derek took a knife out of his pocket, cut up a food stamp card, and put the knife back in his pocket. Derek took several loads of his belongings to his vehicle. Shawna took a laptop computer and got in the passenger seat of the truck. Shawna and Kathy waited in the truck for Derek to leave because Shawna was worried Derek would do something to the dogs or burn down the house.
As Derek approached the truck, Kathy locked the doors. Shawna’s window was open a few inches. Derek stood outside the truck on the passenger side and told Shawna to give him the laptop. At some point, Kathy called 911. Derek pounded on the passenger window with his fist. Shawna did not see a knife when Derek was pounding on the window. On Derek’s fourth hit the window shattered and Derek hit Shawna in the jaw and knocked her unconscious. Derek then lunged through the window, lay on top of Shawna and began repeatedly stabbing and slashing Kathy in the face, chest and abdomen. Kathy dropped her cell phone. The 911 operator heard screaming and dispatched the police.
Derek’s attack on Kathy was vicious. He slashed and stabbed her repeatedly, concentrating his efforts on her face and chest. Kathy testified in court: “He looked like he was looking and aiming and stabbing.” Derek inflicted twelve separate wounds. He stabbed Kathy three times in the chest and once in the rib cage. He slashed her face and neck and her sternum was fractured. Kathy’s treating trauma surgeon testified that had Kathy not been transported to the trauma center, she could have died from her injuries.
Source: Justia US Law