Columbus man who shot at I-71 motorists in Delaware County sentenced to 25 years in prison

DELAWARE - As video played of several police cruisers slowly following Jonathon Myers while he walked along Interstate 71 northbound after he fired on passing motorists and moments before he fired on Columbus police, the 21-year-old slumped in his seat in Delaware County Common Pleas Court.

Occasionally he glanced back at the girlfriend he was with during the March 11 shooting, and at family members gathered in the courtroom, including a baby daughter.

At one point, Myers appeared to wipe away tears before Delaware Common Pleas Court Judge David Gormley imposed a 25-year mandatory sentence for his shooting rampage, which terrorized motorists and snarled traffic for hours.

No motorists were injured in the shooting, but a Columbus police officer who came under fire was checked out at a local hospital for debris from Myers' gunfire. And Myers was seriously wounded by officers who returned fire after he fired on a police cruiser.

I-71 shooting:Columbus police release dashcam video of man firing at officers, 911 calls

Delaware County Prosecutor Melissa Schiffel asked Gormley to impose a lengthy sentence worthy of someone intent on killing others when he fired into passing vehicles.

"Pulling the trigger of a gun is an act to kill," Schiffel said, describing Myer as "pulling the trigger ... again and again and again," while firing into traffic after he had crashed into a guardrail in the median and exited his car near the Powell Road overpass.

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Schiffel said that Gormley's sentence "should continue to send a message ... to curb gun violence creeping into our county."

I-71 shooter's attorney: Heavy drug use, mental illness responsible

Myers' attorney, Jeremy Dodgion, said that his client's heavy drug use, mental illness and desperation were responsible, asking for a 23-year sentence.

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"He did not intend to go out shooting random victims," Dodgion said, saying that Myers had been "self-medicating with any drugs that he could get his hands on" for days.

Myers hung his head and read a brief statement expressing regret for his actions. Some of what he said was not audible, however.

"That day I was not in my right state of mind," he said, describing himself as "extremely depressed and suicidal."

"I have learned some valuable lessons to use and succeed in life," he said.

In imposing the sentence, Gormley ran several of the charges concurrently. Myers could have faced more than 100 years on charges of attempted murder, attempted aggravated murder, felonious assault and discharging a firearm.

Gormley noted that Myers had had several outstanding drug charges and one for domestic violence in Franklin County and was out on bail during the shootings. From a pre-sentence report, he noted Myers' troubled youth including being molested at 8-years old, having his brother shot at 14 and seeing a relative overdose at 16.

Panic among motorists who came under fire

Myers fired at numerous vehicles, striking at least three — a UPS truck, a van carrying two members of the Madison High School wrestling team and two coaches, and a van carrying several developmentally disabled clients on their way to COSI.

The driver of that vehicle described the panic inside the van.

"My clients were upset and crying," she said. One passenger was patting himself down, telling her, "He shot at us. I'm checking myself for bullet holes."

The driver, who didn't want to be named, said she's since been diagnosed with PTSD as a result of the incident.

Myers fled when officers arrived, running north along the highway. When approached by a line of Columbus police cruisers, he turned and fired his handgun, striking one police cruiser.

Officers returned fire, striking Myers in the lower body and sending him to the pavement.

Several Columbus police officers lined the courtroom benches "to show support" for those directly involved, one officer said.

Schiffel called the incident "the most serious conduct I have seen in my career ... in which no one, by the grace of God, was seriously injured."

At one point, Myers' stepfather, James Edwards, held 9-month-old Jayleigh Myers, one of the defendant's three children, during the hour-long hearing.

Afterwards, he called Johnathon Myers' sentence "better than anything we could have expected."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Delaware County judge sentences I-71 gunman to 25 years in prison