Columbus man pleads to involuntary manslaughter for 2021 shooting inside bar

Jordan Laird, The Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·2 min read
Othman A. Abdu, 20, of the Blacklick area on Columbus' East Side, was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with the opportunity for parole after 39 years for his conviction for the fatal Halloween 2021 shooting of Hazeer Winton, 21, on the Southeast Side, and for wounding another individual in an unrelated shooting earlier that day.

A man is facing at least 19 years in prison for fatally shooting a 29-year-old man inside a Franklinton bar in 2021.

Clyde T. Littlefield, 23, of the West Side, pleaded guilty on Monday in connection with the death of Edward Charles “Little Eddie” Hunter Jr., of the South Side, on July 1, 2021.

Littlefield pleaded to involuntary manslaughter with a firearm specification, illegal possession of a firearm in a liquor permit premises and illegally carrying a concealed weapon.

In exchange, Franklin County prosecutors dismissed a murder charge.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Cocroft sentenced Littlefield to an indefinite prison term of 19 years and two months to 24 years and eight months. If Littlefield misbehaves in prison, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections could extend his prison term.

The sentence was jointly recommended by prosecutors and Littlefield’s defense attorney.

Littlefield has been in jail for about one year and nine months and that time will count toward time served.

A fight at Patio Bar at 945 Sullivant Ave. preceded the fatal shooting.

According to a statement by the Franklin County Prosecutor's office, there was a fight between Littlefield's group and another group of people before Littlefield pulled out a gun and shot Hunter in the back while he was standing and again while Hunter lay injured on the ground.

Hunter died at the scene. Littlefield fled the bar.

Littlefield's defense attorney, Dan Sabol, said Littlefield regrets the shooting every day.

"Clyde wasn't out to hurt anyone that night. A fight broke out amongst a group of people that he was not a part of, (Hunter) started assaulting Clyde's friend, so he stepped in to protect him and unfortunately used a firearm in the heat of the moment. This was a tragedy for all involved," Sabol told The Dispatch.

U.S. Marshals arrested Littlefield in August 2021 in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Shortly after the shooting, Columbus police said they were also looking for Logan Besse, a person of interest in Hunter’s death. Sabol said Besse was Littlefield's friend who Hunter punched.

Besse, 24, pleaded guilty in July 2022 to having a weapon under disability (possessing a gun illegally) and he is currently on probation. Cocroft sentenced Besse to two years and six months of community control.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man sentenced to prison for fatal shooting inside bar