A Columbus man didn't shoot two shootout victims - but jury convicts him of both murders
During a trial last week in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, prosecutors argued Wayne Coffman is guilty not only of shooting a man who survived but also of two charges of murder for those who died in the aftermath.
Coffman did not shoot the bystander or the security guard who died outside a North Side bar last year in a chaotic incident that involved multiple people firing guns, but Coffman started the shooting, according to Franklin County prosecutors.
A jury agreed with prosecutors on Monday when it found Coffman, 35, of the East Side, guilty of all charges: two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of felonious assault.
Under Ohio's felony murder rule, if someone commits a felony, in this case felonious assault and attempted murder, and that leads to someone's death, they can be convicted of murder.
Prosecutors argued it was foreseeable - a requirement for this type of murder conviction - that starting a shootout could cause people to get killed.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Chris Brown found Coffman guilty of possessing a gun illegally as Coffman is a previously convicted felon.
Brown will sentence Coffman on Aug. 18 to a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Brown will decide when Coffman is first eligible for parole after at least 18 years.
Coffman intends to appeal the verdict, according to his attorney, Robert Krapenc.
Krapenc told The Dispatch after the verdict was announced that it's unfortunate nobody else will ever be held accountable for these two deaths.
Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor David Zeyen told The Dispatch that unless further evidence is uncovered, there will likely be no further indictments related to this incident.
What happened at Podunk's bar?
According to Columbus police, sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 1:45 a.m. on March 11, 2022, a surveillance camera inside Podunk's captured Coffman getting into a fight with Anthony Ray Smith and striking him several times. Bar security broke up the fight but Coffman attempted to take several of their guns, according to police.
Coffman then left the bar. In the parking lot, he was handed a handgun, according to police.
Coffman walked up to Smith in the parking lot and shot him multiple times, according to authorities.
Gunfire then erupted with several people in the parking lot shooting, police said.
Laurance Ball, 36, of the Northeast Side, attempted to take cover but was struck and died from her injuries a short time later.
Mareo Bell, 33, of the Northeast Side, was working security at Podunk's that night and also was shot. He succumbed to his injuries about two weeks later.
Coffman was also injured that night, according to Krapenc.
Smith survived his injuries.
According to Zeyen, authorities know some of the people who were involved in the shooting who stayed at the scene and talked to officers. But there are some issues with evidence, including that a bullet that went through Ball was never recovered and only bullet fragments were recovered from Bell.
The second hurdle to convicting the individuals who shot Ball and Bell would be the argument they shot in self-defense, Zeyen said.
More court news: Ex-Columbus police officer indicted with murder in 2022 shooting death of Donovan Lewis
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man guilty of murder for 2022 shootout outside North Side bar
