Arraignment delayed for Chicago man accused in Mason City murder, defense attorney says prosecutors holding back material

MASON CITY — The arraignment hearing for a Chicago man accused of murdering a man in downtown Mason City earlier this month has been delayed.

25-year-old Jelani Faulk is accused of repeatedly discharging a firearm at 35-year-old Christopher Tucker of Garner in the early morning hours of October 5th near the Happy Donkey Bar at the intersection of State and Federal. Tucker suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was airlifted to the Mayo Clinic hospitals in Rochester, where he died the next day.

Faulk’s arraignment hearing was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, but his attorney Charles Kenville in a motion filed late Tuesday morning asked for a continuance. Kenville in his written motion states that prosecutors are “in possession of a trove of material that is relevant and necessary to the preparation of an effective defense in the case and it is being withheld through intentional indifference” to Kenville’s pleas for production.

District Judge James Drew approved the continuance, rescheduling the arraignment hearing for November 9th.

Faulk is currently being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on a total of $1,050,000 cash-only bond. If convicted of first-degree murder, Faulk would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the opportunity for parole.