Columbus man pleads guilty to killing a woman, wounding 2 in July 2020 shooting

A Columbus man pleaded guilty Tuesday and was sentenced to an indefinite term of at least 20 years in prison for his role in a July 2020 shooting that left one woman dead and wounded two others, the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday.

Anthony Humphrey Jr., 22, of the city's Near East Side, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of felonious assault — all with gun specifications — in the shooting death of 23-year-old Dariene Smith and for wounding two other people in the area, according to a prosecutor's office news release.

Humphrey's guilty plea means he avoids another murder trial. His 2022 trial ended in a hung jury after jurors could not come to a unanimous verdict on an aggravated murder charge.

Prosecutors said that Humphrey, who was 18 years old at the time of the shooting, opened fire after a fight broke out around 2:25 a.m. on July 11, 2023, near Callahan's nightclub. Humphrey began firing erratically and shot three people: Smith, her friend, and one of the men involved in the fight.

Smith and her friend, who both were in town from Cleveland, were not involved in the fight and did not know Humphrey, Columbus police said.

Smith and her friend drove themselves to OhioHealth Rehabilitation Hospital in a private vehicle within minutes. Smith was transferred from there to Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center, where she died at 9:28 a.m.

@ShahidMeighan