Columbus man who paralyzed woman with gunshot during robbery gets 18-23 ½ years in prison

Jordan Laird, Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·3 min read
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Marissa Jones, 34, right, could not wipe away her tears Tuesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court at the sentencing hearing of Jawara Scott, 21, the man convicted of shooting her in the head during a robbery Sept. 21, 2022, outside a South Linden gas station. Yvonne Jones, Marissa's mother and full-time caregiver, left, had to help wipe Marissa's tears.

Marissa Jones could not raise her arms to wipe away her tears Tuesday during the sentencing hearing for the man convicted of shooting her in the head during a robbery last year outside a Columbus gas station, paralyzing her.

Yvonne Jones, Marissa's mother and full-time caregiver, had to take a tissue and wipe the tears from the face of her 34-year-old quadriplegic daughter.

Jawara Scott, 21, of Columbus' Franklinton neighborhood, appeared Tuesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court for his sentencing on two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of felonious assault.

Scott pleaded guilty to the charges in August. As part of the plea agreement, Franklin County prosecutors dropped an attempted murder charge in connection with the Sept. 21, 2022, shooting at a South Linden gas station, but they reserved the right to prosecute Scott for murder if Jones dies from her injuries.

Judge Carl Aveni sentenced Scott to 18-23 ½ years in prison. Aveni could have sentenced Scott to up to 33-38 ½ years.

"Mr. Scott, you will be in the middle of your life when you are released from prison. The victim will still be in that wheelchair. She will be there every day for the rest of her life," Aveni said.

Jawara Scott, 21, of Franklinton, right, was sentenced Tuesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court to 18-23 ½ years in prison. Scott, seen standing here with his defense attorney, Mark Collins, pleaded guilty in August to two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of felonious assault for a Sept. 21, 2022, shooting that left Marissa Jones, now 34, a quadriplegic.

Franklin County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jason Manning said during the sentencing hearing that Scott and five teens ranging from 15 to 17 years old were armed with guns and driving around smoking marijuana and drinking that September night in 2022 when they stopped at a Sunoco gas station on Cleveland Avenue. That group included the mother of Scott's child, according to Scott's defense attorney, Mark Collins.

Some of the juveniles saw that the male friend Jones was with that night had cash on him, Manning said in court.

According to surveillance video presented in court, several members of the group tried to rob Jones and her friend in their car outside the gas station. Manning said Scott pistol-whipped Jones in the eye before he shot her in the head.

In a video played during the sentencing hearing, Jones said she can't do anything for herself now because she is paralyzed and feels like she's a baby again.

Scott apologized in court.

"I'm sorry for the harm that I caused to the two victims," Scott said of Jones and her male companion.

Three of the teens who were with Scott that night have been placed on the juvenile equivalent of probation after pleading guilty to obstructing justice or obstructing official business.

Two other teens, a then-15-year-old and a then-17-year-old, have criminal cases pending against them in juvenile court. They're each charged with three counts of aggravated robbery and two counts of felonious assault.

Neither of those two cases will be sent to adult court since a Franklin County Juvenile Court judge decided to keep the 17-year-old who had a gun on him in the juvenile system.

jlaird@dispatch.com

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man sent to prison in robbery, shooting that paralyzed woman