Court order shutters Hilltop home where accused killer lived due to frequent police visits
A court order shutting down a Hilltop home reveals new details about the frequent visits Columbus police made since early 2021 to the residence where David A. Johnson III is accused of fatally shooting a man in April 2021 and where his 1-year-old son died of a fentanyl overdose in November while Johnson was on house arrest there.
Johnson was mistakenly released from the Franklin County jail in late November due to a court clerical error. Police rearrested him on Dec. 19 and Johnson is now being held without bond. While he was out, police said Johnson was a suspect in a Dec. 13 robbery that turned deadly at a gas station. Police have since dismissed charges against Johnson for that incident for now while police investigate new information.
The preliminary injunction, signed by a Franklin County Municipal Court judge on Monday, states Columbus police made multiple controlled purchases of drugs at the home; confiscated guns and drugs from the home in February while executing a search warrant; and responded to a call on Aug. 30 about a 13-year-old who had been shot — but the victim would not describe the person who shot him.
The court document also states that as of that Aug. 30 call, Franklin County Children Services had recently removed a 10-year-old from the home.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein announced Tuesday the city had obtained the emergency court order to board up the single-family house at 70 S. Harris Ave. The city filed the case against the home's owners on Dec. 13, the day of the gas station homicide.
“This is the first drug house we shut down in 2023, and it won’t be the last,” said Klein in a statement. “The city has made it our priority to take out drug houses and go after the criminals that make our neighborhoods less safe."
Lock Equity Holdings, LLC and other defendants who own the home agreed to and signed the order, which states that they and the city will work toward developing or selling the property so it is no longer a public nuisance.
Lock Equity was incorporated in Ohio by Christina Lowery and William Emerick, of Hilliard, in November 2020.
The order authorizes the city to forcibly remove all occupants from the home and board it up, and it limits the owners' access.
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Illegal drugs, guns and multiple shootings at Hilltop house
The order lists more than a dozen instances since January 2021 when authorities received complaints about illegal activity or visited the house, including:
In January and April of 2021, Columbus police received reports that Derek Ponder, a wanted felon, was at the home.
On April 28, 2021, police responded to a report of a shooting at the home. Johnson is accused of fatally shooting 26-year-old Ponder that day and wounding his own mother during an altercation, according to other court records. The order states the 911 caller identified Johnson as the suspect and said he lived at 70 S. Harris Ave.
Johnson is charged with murder and felonious assault in connection with Ponder's death.
On Feb. 8, Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 of 2022, Columbus police detectives, with the assistance of a confidential informant, purchased crack cocaine and fentanyl at the home, the order states.
On Feb. 15, detectives were granted and executed a search warrant for the home, according to the order. Detectives recovered fentanyl, crack cocaine, powder cocaine, heroin, firearms, firearm magazines, ammunition and more than $1,800 in cash.
Inside the home when the warrant was executed were eight adults, multiple juveniles and an infant, according to the order.
The home's owner told police in March that tenants were given a three-day notice to leave, but they did not do so and the owner would file to evict the tenants.
On Aug. 30, Columbus police responded to a call about a 13-year-old male at the home who had been shot and was bleeding from his mouth. The victim was transported to Nationwide Children's Hospital.
"Notes indicate that the victim was uncooperative and would not give a description of the suspect that shot him," the order states. "Reports also indicate that Franklin County Children Services had recently removed a ten year-old from the home."
On Nov. 18, Columbus police responded to the house on a report of an overdose. The original caller stated their 1-year-old son had gotten into some unknown medicine while they were sleeping. The infant was transported to Nationwide Children's Hospital but went into cardiac arrest and passed away. Postmortem testing revealed the infant was positive for fentanyl, the order states.
While there, officers patted down three individuals inside the house, according to the order. Police found one individual was concealing a scale with white powder in his underwear and two grams of crack cocaine in a jean pocket. The suspect, who had an active warrant for his arrest, said the narcotics were for his personal use, according to the order.
Other court records state police found multiple drugs in large quantities in the home, including crack cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as unidentified pills.
Johnson, Destiny Strickland and Daviair D. Porter are charged with crimes relating to the Nov. 18 incident. Johnson is charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, trafficking in drugs and numerous other counts. Strickland is charged with obstructing official business. And Porter is charged with felony counts of tampering with evidence, possession of drugs and obstructing official business.
More court news:Multiple fatal shootings by officers among notable Columbus cases set for 2023
jlaird@dispatch.com
@LairdWrites
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Court order reveals numerous calls to Hilltop home of death and drugs
