COLUMBUS – A 23-year-old man was sentenced to more than 70 years in prison for a crime he committed when he was still a teenage gang member.
A Franklin County jury convicted Mario Wade, of Columbus, in the 2018 murders of Keith Williams III and Marlazia Jones-Mattox during a home invasion on the West Side while Wade was a member of the Hilltop Hot Boys, Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack said.
Immediately following the guilty verdict, Judge Julie Lynch sentenced Wade to 72 years to life in prison, on two counts of aggravated murder, firearm and gang specifications, and weapons offenses.
Wade and two other gang members, including a 15-year-old, broke into Williams’ home on Hague Avenue on Jan. 1, 2018, and Williams shot the 15-year-old in self-defense during the attempted holdup, Tyack said.
Wade then shot Williams nine times and Dillon shot Jones-Mattox, who was nine months pregnant, five times as she struggled to escape through a window.
Jones-Mattox was rushed to Mt. Carmel West Hospital, where doctors delivered her baby boy, though the boy had been deprived of oxygen for more than 45 minutes, causing cerebral palsy, Tyack said.
Both Williams and Jones-Mattox died of their gunshot wounds.
A jury convicted Dillion for his role in the incident in November 2021 and he was sentenced to 78 years to life in prison, Tyack said.
The teenager 15-year-old is now partially paralyzed, Tyack said.
Argument ends in fatal shooting
Police are investigating the deadly shooting of a man on the East Side Monday afternoon.
According to Sgt. Edward Powell III of the Columbus police Homicide Unit, Lavarr Madison was shot in the 1000 block of S. Ashburton Road, where he was found by police officers at approximately 4:10 p.m.
The 21-year-old Madison was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center where he died later, Powell said.
Witnesses at the scene told police there were several individuals involved in an argument when the shots were fired.
This was the 87th homicide of the year in Columbus.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Columbus police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).