By Nick Hytrek
Sioux City Journal, Iowa
FORT MADISON, Iowa — Two men serving prison sentences for unrelated Sioux City shootings have been charged with using makeshift knives to stab two Iowa State Penitentiary corrections officers in January.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation on Friday filed two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of weapons in a correctional institution against Dennis Lawson, 28, and Anthony Bauer, 23.
Bauer, of Sioux City, is serving a 50-year sentence for his role in the Jan. 1, 2021, shooting death of 18-year-old Mia Kritis at a Morningside home.
Lawson, also of Sioux City, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for a May 2020 shooting during a robbery and an illegal gun possession charge in an unrelated case.
According to complaints filed in Lee County District Court, the two stabbed two corrections officers multiple times Jan. 21 while doing schoolwork inside the Fort Madison facility.
One of the officers was handing out homework to Bauer and Lawson when the two took part in what appeared to be a coordinated attack in which each produced a shiv made from materials they had access to and had sharpened to be used as knives. The officer was repeatedly stabbed in the neck, throat, head, back and sides, "... in an apparent attempt to kill (the officer),” a complaint said.
The second officer intervened and also was stabbed several times in the neck, throat, head, back and sides.
Several other officers responded to the alleged attack and forcefully gained control of Bauer and Lawson.
The two injured officers were treated at a local hospital and have been released, the DCI said in a news release.
If convicted as charged, both men could face up to an additional 60 years in prison.
Bauer pleaded guilty in Woodbury County in 2021 to one count of second-degree murder and three counts of reckless use of a firearm in connection with Kritis’ shooting death. He admitted to aiding and abetting in the shooting at 2636 Walker St. , where Kritis was among 20-25 people gathered for a New Year’s Eve party. Three others were injured when Bauer and at least one other person fired shots into the house.
Two co-defendants also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and reckless use of a firearm and were sentenced to 50 and 55 years in prison. All three had initially been charged with first-degree murder but later pleaded guilty to the lesser second-degree charge in plea agreements.
Lawson pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for second-degree robbery, willful injury and felon in possession of a firearm, all with a habitual offender enhancement, for a May 21, 2020, incident in which he was riding in a car in Sioux City with another man who had stopped and obtained $400 from an ATM. When the man returned to the car, Lawson pulled a gun and demanded the money. After the victim refused, Lawson fired two shots, one of them hitting the victim in the leg.
Lawson was on probation for an unrelated gun charge at the time, and his probation was revoked and the original five-year prison sentence was added to his sentence for the shooting.
Lawon also was sentenced in July 2021 to 51 months in federal prison for illegal possession of a firearm.
—
© 2026 Sioux City Journal, Iowa. Visit www.siouxcityjournal.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.