Franklin County court roundup: three plead in unrelated homicide cases; murder case dismissed

Three Columbus men have pleaded guilty to unrelated fatal shootings they had committed as teens, and Franklin County prosecutors have dismissed a murder case because witnesses couldn't be located. 

Here is some of the latest news out of Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. 

Keyontay Perry, 20, is facing at least 14 years in prison for killing 26-year-old Roger Kenneth Pindell in 2019 during a gun deal gone wrong.

Perry was 17 at the time of the crime, but his case was bound over to adult court. He pleaded guilty Oct. 26 to one count of involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, with a specification for brandishing a firearm.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Karen Phipps sentenced Perry on Thursday to a prison term of 14 years minimum to 19 years and six months, the maximum sentence for the charge.

Phipps said this is one of the worst involuntary manslaughter cases she has seen.

On Dec. 29, 2019, a group of men, including Perry, were in a vehicle in the 500 block of Seymour Avenue for a gun deal, according to Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Clark.

"The victim got in the car, ... and (Perry) had his gun out already," Clark said at the sentencing hearing. "And then there's this tussle. ... This young man fired the gun, and he didn't fire it once. He didn't fire it twice. He fired it at least four times, possibly up to seven. ... He kept firing."

Thomas Gjostein, Perry's defense attorney, said at the sentencing hearing that it was supposed to be a gun swap but that an argument over the trade was started. Gjostein said Perry did have a gun on his lap when Pindell entered the car.

Perry said his client told him Pindell had pulled a gun on him first.

"(Perry) saw the other gun being pulled and pointed at (Pindell) and he fired," Gjostein said. "What happened after that, I think, is an instance of ... a lapse of concentration and fear."

Perry apologized to Pindell's family during the hearing.

"If I could, I would go back in time and change what happened," Perry said. "I wish I was never there."

Jonie Roberts, Pindell's mother, spoke through tears at the sentencing hearing about her son in front of at least 20 friends and family of the victim in attendance.

"My son wasn't perfect," she said. "He was loving and funny. ... He wanted to better his life. ... Too little, too late, they say."

Context:Hilltop teen charged with delinquency murder after man shot to death in vehicle on Near East Side

Teen gets 25 years for fatal shooting on North Side

Harrison V. Finklea, 18, will spend at least 25 years behind bars for fatally shooting 42-year-old Jonathan Reddy on Feb. 3 outside a motel on the 1000 block of East Dublin-Granville Road in Columbus' North Side neighborhood.

Finklea was 17 at the time of the crime, but his case was bound over to adult court. He pleaded guilty Dec. 2 to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery. 

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael Holbrook sentenced Finklea to a total prison term of 25 years to 30 years and six months, as recommended by prosecutors and defense counsel on the case.

Homicide detectives at the time said Finklea and Reddy had arranged to meet at the motel, and Finklea entered Reddy’s car, where he soon shot Reddy after a brief altercation. 

Context:17-year-old wanted in fatal shooting at North Side motel turns himself in to Columbus police

Teen pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in East Side shootout

Nasir Ndiaye, 17, pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter in the juvenile division of Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.  

Ndiaye, then-15, killed another 15-year-old, Trevon Dickson, in a shootout on the city’s East Side, according to Columbus police.

Ndiaye’s sentencing date has not been scheduled.

Context:15-year-old killed, surviving teen arrested after shootout on East Side

Prosecutors dismiss murder case for now

Franklin County prosecutors filed documents Nov. 30 to dismiss a murder case against Djuan Jones, 28, whom they alleged fatally stabbed his grandfather, 58-year-old Kelvin Thomas, on Nov. 13, 2020. In the court filing, prosecutors said Columbus police investigators found that Jones had confessed to two family members that he had committed the homicide. 

“The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office has made all best efforts to locate and secure testimony of these two necessary witnesses; their absence requires the State to Nolle (dismiss) this case at this time,” the court filing states. 

Prosecutors still could bring a case against Jones if witnesses or other evidence are found.   

Context:Man arrested in New Albany area for murder in the stabbing death of his grandfather

jlaird@dispatch.com

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