UPDATE: Des Moines man sentenced to life in prison for hotel slaying

UPDATE: Joshua Ryan Carmody, 32, was sentenced to life in prison without parole Tuesday for the murder of Sayvon Propps, 30.

A Polk County jury convicted Mr. Carmody on April 11, 2025, of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

District Judge Lawrence McLellan denied defense’s motion to overturn the jury verdict and grant a new trial. He sentenced the defendant to concurrent sentences of 30 years plus life in prison.

Two survivors made victim impact statements, read by victim advocate Rees Barrett of Polk County Crisis & Advocacy Services.

“I will never forgive you. I’m not here for forgiveness. I’m here to let you know you took an amazing father from his children. You acted off of emotion and that caused Sayvon his life,” said Aryon Cooks, the mother of his daughter.

“My daughter will never be able to talk to her dad and get his advice on anything that happens in life from here on out and it’s not fair. I pray my daughter doesn’t grow up with pain in her heart, knowing that her dad‘s life was taken from him because I know the way it affected me and Sayvon both to not have a father growing up because he was taken from us early, and that’s the last thing I ever wanted to happen to my daughter.”

Denise Pearson, mother of Mr. Propps, said she hated what the defendant did, “but my faith will not allow me to hate you.”

“Two families are forever changed by the choices you made …,” she said. “It’s really hard for me to understand how you, as a father, made a decision that would alter your children’s lives.”

The defendant did not make a statement to the court.

Jury convicts man of first-degree murder in hotel slaying

April 11, 2025

A Polk County jury convicted a Des Moines man of first-degree murder on Friday for breaking into a hotel room and killing Sayvon Propps a year ago.

Joshua Ryan Carmody, 32, was also convicted of first-degree burglary and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He faces life in prison when he is sentenced at a later date. The jury deliberated less than an hour before returning the verdict Friday. The trial started Monday.

Mr. Propps, 30, and Danielle Looney arrived at the Ramada Inn, 1810 Army Post Road, at 3:51 a.m. on April 10, 2024. Mr. Carmody arrived at the hotel at 4:15 a.m. Video evidence showed that he kicked in the door and entered Ms. Looney’s hotel room at 4:25 a.m.

Seven seconds later, Mr. Propps staggered out of the room and collapsed in the hallway, the video showed. Mr. Carmody was shot 11 times during the incident.

Ms. Looney testified that Mr. Carmody charged at Mr. Propps, who fired at the defendant. She said she was in an on-and-off relationship with Mr. Carmody for a year. She also told the jury that the defendant had called and messaged her several times the day before the incident and was upset she was in a relationship with Mr. Propps.

The defendant was previously convicted of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant County Attorneys Olu Salami and Bradley Kincade, with assistance from Ankit Pal, Lindsay Scott, and Chelsea Armbrecht. The investigation was led by Detective Spencer Taylor and Jeffrey George of the Des Moines Police Department.