First reported by KCII, the Iowa Court of Appeals will review the case of a former Keokuk County Sheriff’s deputy convicted in connection with a 2023 hayride crash near What Cheer that injured more than a dozen children.
David Heady Jr., 34, was originally charged with three counts of child endangerment with serious injury, Class C felonies, and 10 counts of child endangerment with bodily injury, Class D felonies. Following a six-day trial in September 2025, he was found guilty of two counts of child endangerment with serious injury and 11 counts of child endangerment with bodily injury — 13 felony counts total.
A motion for a new trial and arrest of judgment was filed in October 2025, denied and dismissed, and an appeal was filed two days later. On November 2, all court records in the case were transferred to the Iowa Court of Appeals for review, according to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. Heady is currently held at the Newton Correctional Facility.
The charges stem from an October 14, 2023, incident in which Heady was a passenger in a truck pulling a hayride carrying approximately 30 children. Both Heady and the driver, Daniel Brubaker, 36, had been drinking heavily before and during the ride. Brubaker lost control of the truck and drove it into a ditch, injuring more than a dozen children.
Brubaker was originally charged with three counts of child endangerment with serious injury and 10 counts of child endangerment with bodily injury. He pleaded guilty to three counts of neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, Class C felonies, and 10 counts of child endangerment with bodily injury, Class D felonies, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He also appealed his case, and in November 2025 posted bond. In August, the Iowa Court of Appeals denied his motion to appeal, and he has since appealed that ruling to the Iowa Supreme Court.
