Public memorial Monday for Short North bar manager killed in assault

Bethany Bruner, The Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
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A public memorial event and fundraiser will be held Monday for a man who died Sept. 18 of injuries sustained in a Labor Day assault outside a Short North bar.

Gregory Coleman Jr., 37, died Sept. 18 from injuries he sustained around 2:30 a.m. Sept. 5, when Columbus police say he was drawn into an altercation with Chrystian Foster, 32, while standing outside a bar in the 1000 block of High Street. A second man, whom police identified as Dwayne Cummings, 28, then sucker-punched Coleman.

Graphic video of the assault taken by one of the bystanders shows Coleman falling backwards after being punched in the face, hitting his head on the pavement on North High Street. He was in a coma and on a ventilator until his death at the Ohio State University James Cancer Center Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

Coleman, a former football player at Iowa State and the University of Montana, worked as a manager at Short North Pint House, located a few blocks way on North High Street, and had left work shortly before the assault happened.

Short North Pint House, 780 N. High St., will host a celebration of life event for Coleman that is open to the public after 7 p.m. Monday. (One Hospitality Group employees are invited to attend between 4 and 7 p.m.) All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Coleman family.

Prior coverage:Man left in coma by sucker-punch assault on Labor Day outside Short North bar has died

Cummings was arrested Thursday on a charge of murder and is currently being held in the Franklin County jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.

Foster, who is also wanted on an arrest warrant for murder, remains at-large, police said.

Prior coverage:Two men charged with attempted murder after Short North assault caught on video

Coleman is survived by his 9-year-old daughter, his parents, five siblings, and multiple nieces and nephews and other family and friends.

bbruner@dispatch.com

@bethany_bruner

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Public memorial Monday for Short North bar manager killed in assault