Road rage and brawl led to fatal shooting at Wendy's in Sunbury and self-defense claim
The attorney for a Hilliard man charged with voluntary homicide in the Dec. 14 fatal shooting of a Sunbury man claims his client was defending himself and his 6-year-old son after a road-rage incident led to a brawl in a Wendy's parking lot.
Attorney Nick Mango said that Marshle Patrick Graham was turning left from Route 37 (West Cherry Street) into the Wendy's restaurant at 88 North Miller Drive in Sunbury and approaching a vehicle driven by Gary Langston, 58, of Sunbury.
Graham had planned to get his son a kid's meal and had parked at about 2 p.m. when Langston, apparently believing that he had been cut off, chased him down, Mango said.
"I look at it as a following, if not stalking, behavior, to go after (Graham)," Mango said of Langston.
Graham, who turned 43 on Thursday, alleges that Langston was about to swing at him when Graham punched him and a fight erupted with punches and brawling on the ground, according to Mango. At some point, Graham shot Langston beside cars in the parking lot as Graham's son remained in the rear seat of his car.
After the shooting, Graham left the scene. But within minutes, he called 911 to report the shooting and his whereabouts, a campgrounds in Berkshire Township when he had been living in a 40-foot camper with his wife and son, according to Mango.
"We're very confident his actions were justified under the circumstances," Mango said of Graham.
The Delaware County Coroner said that Langston was face down and had two bullet wounds, in his chest and his side.
The criminal complaint against Graham indicates that Graham went into "a sudden fit of rage" and shot Langston with a handgun. He was placed on house arrest with a GPS ankle bracelet after posting $35,000 cash surety bond on Dec. 19.
Prosecutors had sought a $200,000 bond. Mango had asked a Delaware County Common Pleas Court magistrate for a non-cash recognizance bond.
A probable cause affidavit by Sunbury police indicates more of a two-sided struggle. In a rambling statement to police from the campground, Graham said the argument escalated when Langston "acted like he was going to punch him, so he punched him back."
Graham alleged that Langston, at one point, reached into his car where Graham's son was sitting. Graham told police that only then did he retrieve his .380-caliber Ruger handgun from the passenger seat.
Police found blood on and inside Graham's car and on his clothes when they arrested him at the campground.
At least one other witness included a similar account of the fight, including a 30-second cellphone video she recorded. She told police that Graham threw the first punch.
A preliminary hearing scheduled Thursday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court was canceled as the case will be presented at a later date by a Delaware County grand jury for possible indictment.
Mango described a reasonable fear of harm, or self-defense response by Graham.
"Weapon or not, I think there can be a reasonable fear of harm to yourself and child ... especially from someone that you are trying to get away from," Mango said. "I think if he didn't have his kid in the car, he would have called (police) from the Wendy's."
Five days before Christmas, Mango said he's told Graham: "Go home and settle down and get back to your son, who's probably traumatized by this."
Sunbury police asked the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's help to process the homicide scene.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Brawl led to fatal shooting at Sunbury Wendy's; gunman on house arrest
