COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Hilltop gang member was sentenced to 72 years to life in prison for the shooting deaths of two people four years ago, one of whom was a pregnant woman.
The Franklin County Prosecutor's Office said 23-year-old Mario Wade was sentenced after being found guilty of aggravated murder on Monday.
Wade, Christian Dillion and a 15-year-old went into a residence in the 600 block of South Hague Avenue in the Hilltop neighborhood on Jan. 1., 2018 to rob Keith Williams III. The three were members of the Hilltop Hot Boys gang, according to the prosecutor's office.
During the robbery attempt, Williams shot the teenager in self-defense. The prosecutor's office said Wade then shot Williams nine times.
As Wade and Dillion were leaving the residence, they heard Marlazia Jones-Mattox screaming as she struggled to exit the house through a window. Dillion shot Jones-Mattox, who was nine months pregnant, five times in the back.
Jones-Mattox was taken to Mount Carmel West Hospital where doctors delivered her baby boy. The baby was without oxygen for 45 minutes, causing cerebral palsy. Both Williams and Jones-Mattox died from their injuries.
Wade and Dillion drove around Columbus and dumped two guns in two different sewers and another gun in Big Walnut Creek after the shooting.
Police found all three guns and the Columbus Division of Police's crime lab linked the weapons to the deaths of Williams and Jones-Mattox.
A judge sentenced Wade to 60 years for the aggravated murder counts, six years for firearm specifications, three years for gang specifications and three years for having weapons while under disability.
A jury convicted Dillion on similar counts last year and was sentenced to 78 years to life in prison.
The 15-year-old who was shot during the robbery attempt is a triplegic, according the prosecutor's office.
