Two men who shot and killed Iowa mom of three arrested for murder after long police investigation

DES MOINES – Two men who shot and killed an Iowa mom of three have been arrested for murder after a long police investigation.

On April 3, 2020, 33-year-old Catherine “Kaydee” Bobbitt was shot in the stomach as she and her 17-year-old daughter drove along Kingman Blvd in Iowa’s capital city of Des Moines. An ambulance arrived after a 911 call, and Bobbitt died later at a hospital.

Detectives relentlessly worked this investigation, and on 11 February 2021, 27-year-old Antonio Markez Hodges was charged with first-degree murder and intimidation with a dangerous weapon. Hodges remains in the Polk County Jail awaiting trial.

This week, police detectives took 31-year-old Derrick Glenn Smith, Jr. into custody as he was released from a local hospital. Smith, Jr. had been treated for gunshot injuries received during an early morning shooting incident in the downtown Court Avenue Entertainment District on February 20, 2022.

Police said evidence indicates that Smith, Jr. is the person who shot and killed Kaydee. Following consultation with the Polk County Attorneys Office, Smith, Jr. was charged with first-degree murder and intimidation with a dangerous weapon. He was booked into the Polk County Jail.

“Professional, patient, and skilled work by our Crimes Against Persons detectives,” the DMPD said in a statement. “The best in the business.”

According to an obituary, “Kaydee was a smart, funny, and glamorous young woman with many gifts. Her life was absolutely focused on her family. As a single mom raising three kids by herself, Kaydee carried imposing financial and emotional burdens all the time, but she always felt all that was her responsibility and that no one else should have to listen to her troubles. So with immense determination she took a cheerful, funny and responsible self to work from age 18 on, while at the same time finishing high school in three years with a baby, earning her house through Habitat, finishing two years at DMACC , caring for three energetic kids at home and trying hard to keep her house clean. She did her best to keep all that to herself and never asked for help unless it could absolutely not be avoided. She would never set foot outside her house unless she looked right, and the same went for the kids.