Deputies with the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Department arrested a Conrad man Monday morning on suspicion of first-degree murder.
According to a sheriff’s department news release, 51-year-old Jacob Leigh Hamilton was taken into custody around 9:20 a.m. The arrest stems from a July 14, 2024, shooting in Hudson.
On that date, Hudson police responded to a report of gunfire in the 300 block of South Washington Street. Officers found 35-year-old Zachary Michael Drinovsky lying on the ground with several gunshot wounds. Drinovsky was still alive when officers arrived but later died from his injuries.
Hamilton was at the scene and told investigators he shot Drinovsky in self-defense after an altercation.
The Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case with assistance from the Hudson and Waterloo police departments. The case was forwarded to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, which determined “the defendant re-armed, re-engaged outside, and intentionally killed the victim willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation, without legal justification.”
Hamilton is being held at the Black Hawk County Jail on a $1 million bond.
