Murder trial of Columbus man accused of shooting bystander in fight ends in hung jury
A jury could not reach a verdict Monday in the murder trial of a man Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack's office has accused of fatally shooting a bystander in a 2020 dispute outside a Downtown nightclub.
Anthony Humphrey Jr., 21, is charged in Franklin County Common Pleas Court with aggravated murder, murder and felonious assault in connection with the July 11, 2020, shooting death of 23-year-old Dariene Smith.
Humphrey's jury trial began Dec. 5 in front of Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Dan Hawkins. After both sides presented their closing arguments late Thursday, the jury deliberated for all of Friday and several hours Monday. But the trial ended after the jury could not come to a unanimous verdict, according to Hawkins.
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Isabella Dixon, Humphrey's defense attorney, said jury members told her there were a lot of open questions in the case. The jury was not going to convict on the most serious charge, aggravated murder, but 11 of the 12 jurors were voting to convict Humphrey of murder, Dixon said.
About 2:30 a.m. July 11, 2020, shots were reported to have been fired near the intersection of School and Spruce streets. Smith and another person were fleeing the gunfire when they were both shot. They arrived at OhioHealth Rehabilitation Hospital in a private vehicle minutes later. Smith was transferred to Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center, where she died at 9:28 a.m.
The second victim who arrived with Smith and a third person who was wounded both survived their injuries.
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Franklin County prosecutors accused Humphrey of firing the errant shots after a dispute outside the Callahan's nightclub.
During the trial, prosecutors presented video footage from businesses' security cameras, including a video showing Humphrey carrying a gun at one point on the night of the shooting, Dixon said. But there is no footage of Humphrey firing any shots, Dixon said.
Dixon did not offer an alternative explanation for who killed Smith but poked holes in the prosecutors' argument.
"The prosecution's theory was his friend got in a fight; his friend lost the fight — which clearly his friend didn't lose the fight (according to the video)," Dixon said. "(Prosecutors said) Anthony Humphrey ran to a car, got a gun, came back with the gun, walked around with the gun and then fired shots at the person who was in the fight with his friend. … You don't see Anthony Humphrey anywhere on the film firing a weapon."
Investigators found Humphrey's DNA on a gun that matches the shell casings from the scene and that was found in a car Humphrey was seen running toward, according to Dixon. But a second man's DNA also was found on the gun, Dixon said.
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"In talking to the jury, they said even though a lot of it was on film from the various businesses, they didn't see what they considered to be important parts of the film which maybe would've solidified a decision for them," Dixon said.
Another trial has been scheduled for February.
Franklin County First Assistant Prosecutor Janet Grubb told The Dispatch her office would review the case and determine whether they should retry it but said it's too early to say. Grubb declined to comment further on the open case.
jlaird@dispatch.com
@LairdWrites
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Hung jury for Columbus man accused of fatally shooting bystander
