Mother says she hopes daughter’s name ‘haunts’ man convicted in her killing

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CEDAR RAPIDS — A heartbroken Marion mother on Friday told a Hiawatha man he could have been the “hero of this story” and stopped his “so-called friends” from kidnapping, beating and strangling her 20-year-old daughter on Feb. 17, 2024.

Megan Hoffman told Logan William Michael Kimpton, 20, — convicted being sentenced Friday for helping two others kill her daughter Melody Hoffman — he only thought of himself when he realized what Mc Kinley Louisma, 24, of Hiawatha, and Da kota Van Patten, 19, of Cedar Rapids, were planning was wrong and he “chickened out,” but didn’t tell anyone.

“Melody could still be alive today if you would have thought about others as well,” said Megan, who teared up th