Day 5: Man testifies he paid gunmen $1,500 in Colerain mass shooting

A West Price Hill man testified Thursday that he paid two men about $1,500 to carry out an attempted murder-for-hire at a home in Colerain Township.

Roshawn Bishop, 31, said he paid James Echols and Michael Sanon to kill a woman on July 8, 2017, at her house on Capstan Drive.

The shooting killed a different woman who prosecutors say was not the target and wounded eight others, including three children.

Prosecutors said Bishop has not accepted a plea bargain in exchange for his testimony. He's currently incarcerated on drug charges and is expected to serve an additional sentence for his role in the shooting.

"I came forward on my own free will," Bishop said, adding he's received death threats as a result of his cooperation with investigators.

Testimony revealed Bishop was in an affair with Cheyanne Willis, 26, who had loaned him $10,000 with the expectation he'd pay it back within 30 days.

Bishop testified that he was selling drugs at that time and was going to use that money to buy more product. He said Willis made it clear she needed the money back but his "business partner," who isn't charged in this case, didn't want to repay her.

He said a plan was devised to hire Echols, 26, and Sanon, 24, to kill Willis to avoid repaying the money. Both men face numerous charges including aggravated murder.

"Cheyanne was the primary target," Bishop said.

Bishop grew up in the foster care system but has family ties in Columbus. He said he called his cousin, Vandell Slade, 33, of Columbus to help carry out the plan.

Slade, who Bishop said is connected to a Columbus gang, the Crips, is accused of connecting Echols and Sanon with Bishop, according to court documents.

Bishop said he identified Willis' house to Echols. He said he initially didn't want to go along with the plan but ultimately agreed hours before the shooting.

During her testimony Tuesday, Willis said she saw Bishop in a vehicle near her home with another male figure. She said he called her a few minutes later asking why she wasn't home.

Sometime after 11 p.m. on the night of the shooting, two men armed with handguns entered the house through an unlocked door, according to police reports, and began spraying the living room with bullets.

Echols and Sanon wore shirts over their heads during the shooting, Bishop testified, adding they used a grill at his home to burn the shirts following the incident.

Attorneys for Echols and Sanon have said there's no physical evidence connecting them to the scene and both are victims of circumstance.

Documents filed in advance of the trial say Echols denied to investigators that he came to Cincinnati in the summer of 2017. But the documents say prosecutors have cellphone evidence that contradicts Echols’ denial.

The documents also say Echols has connections to the Crips. In a letter Echols wrote from the Hamilton County jail – where he has been held since his arrest in December 2018 – to someone in Columbus, Echols asked that person to find four or five people to support an apparent alibi.

During opening statements last week, Angela Glaser, Echols' attorney, said the letter contained “words of desperation,” adding that Echols was a young man reaching out in hopes of obtaining an alibi.

Bishop described Echols as "talkative" in his testimony. "In the nature of the business we do, that's not good," Bishop said.

Alexandria Deardorff, an attorney for Sanon, questioned Bishop on his honesty with police during interviews he gave in early 2018.

She laid out a number of inconsistencies between Bishop's testimony and his prior statements to law enforcement, adding he could have come forward sooner.

Bishop admitted he wasn't honest with investigators during those initial interviews, saying he implicated himself in the shooting once he felt he and his family were safe.

Earlier in the trial, which is in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Glaser told the jury Bishop is placing blame on Echols and Sanon in a bid to reduce his prison sentence.

Enquirer reporter Kevin Grasha contributed.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Day 5: Man testifies he paid gunmen $1,500 in Colerain mass shooting