After codefendants' testimony, jury convicts Columbus man of murder in about 35 minutes
A Franklin County jury deliberated for just over a half-hour before convicting a Columbus man who represented himself at his trial on murder charges for a 2021 beating death.
Quincy Anderson, 50, of the city's Near East Side, faced trial this week on murder and aggravated robbery charges in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in the January 2021 beating death of 56-year-old Roland Johnson Jr., of North Linden. Anderson's two codefendants, one his ex-girlfriend, testified against him during his trial.
A jury deliberated for about 35 minutes on Thursday before finding Anderson guilty of all charges.
Both of Anderson's codefendants had pleaded guilty in December to voluntary manslaughter in deals with county prosecutors to avoid potential murder convictions. Those codefendants — Deven Robinson, 28, of the Northeast Side, and Anderson's former girlfriend, Kasey Harper, 37, of Clinton Township — testified against Anderson this week.
Robinson and Harper testified on the witness stand that Robinson and Anderson punched and kicked Johnson repeatedly while Harper taunted Johnson.
Prosecutors are recommending a sentence of six to nine years in prison for Robinson and Harper as part of their plea agreements. Common Pleas Judge Kim Brown will sentence them on Jan. 26.
As a result of his murder conviction, Anderson is now facing a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the opportunity for parole after at least 15 years. Brown will sentence Anderson on Feb. 9.
Brown will also decide later whether to convict Anderson of repeat violent offender specifications on his charges because he has prior convictions for such incidents.
Anderson previously turned down a plea agreement in this case with prosecuting attorneys that would have allowed him to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for prosecutors recommending a sentence of nine to 13 ½ years in prison.
The murder case
According to county prosecutors and the codefendants' testimony, Johnson met with Harper on the night of Jan. 25, 2021, at her apartment building on Cleveland Avenue to pay her for sex. She obtained drugs for Johnson and they got high, she said. Afterward, according to Harper, she told Johnson he would not be getting sex and to leave her building. She then went to do her laundry in a communal laundry room.
Surveillance video from the laundry room showed the beginning of an altercation between Johnson and Harper. She said Johnson grabbed her.
During his trial, Anderson said he was trying to defend Harper when he punched and kicked Johnson and Johnson hit back.
Harper and Anderson called for help from a neighbor, Robinson, according to testimony. Robinson said that he and Anderson continued to hit and kick Johnson in a beating that proceeded down a flight of steps.
The beating happened around midnight, late on Jan. 25 or early on Jan. 26, 2021, according to prosecutors.
When a security guard at the building later found Johnson at the bottom of a flight of stairs later, video from the guard's body-worn camera shows that Johnson, visibly injured, said that he fell down the steps.
Johnson was transported to a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries almost 24 hours later around 11 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2021.
The Franklin County Coroner's Office originally ruled the death an accident, but later changed the cause of death to homicide based on additional evidence submitted by Columbus police.
Anderson said during his trial that Johnson could have died from injuries sustained from falling down the stairs. He accused his codefendants of lying on the witness stand in order to get better plea deals.
The robbery charge stemmed from Anderson taking Johnson's phone, which he later wiped, according to prosecutors.
Vanessa Poindexter, Johnson's partner of 25 years, told The Dispatch she's glad justice was served.
"Roland Johnson was a good family man and he loved us, and he was taken too soon," Poindexter said. "And no one should be treated the way that they treated him."
jlaird@dispatch.com
@LairdWrites
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man representing self at murder trial convicted in 35 minutes
