Two admit to role in 2021 deadly robbery of aspiring Columbus rapper Boog the Bandit
To avoid a murder trial, the young shooter and another man pleaded guilty in court Monday for their roles in the 2021 deadly robbery of aspiring Columbus rapper 'Boog The Bandit.'
Sincere McIntyre, 20, pleaded guilty to murder in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Jumada Williams II, 22, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery.
They admitted they and another man, Kyson Murphy, robbed 26-year-old Courtney Bruce, aka 'Boog the Bandit,' and a man she was with on May 20, 2021, on the East Side.
Bruce, of the East Side, resisted the robbery and McIntyre, who was 17 years old at the time, shot her, according to county prosecuting attorneys.
Williams and McIntyre were scheduled to go to trial on Monday. Williams was facing murder and aggravated robbery charges. McIntyre, who was bound over to adult court to stand trial as an adult but has been incarcerated in the juvenile jail, was facing charges including aggravated murder, murder and aggravated robbery.
Judge Jaiza Page sentenced McIntyre to life in prison with the opportunity for parole after 18 years and Williams to 20 years to 25 ½ years in prison. County prosecuting attorneys recommended these sentences as part of the men's plea deals.
Murphy pleaded guilty in August 2021 to involuntary manslaughter and robbery.
Page will sentence Murphy at a later date. As part of his plea deal, prosecuting attorneys are recommending Page sentence him to 12 to 16 ½ years in prison.
Page ordered the three codefendants on Monday to pay back $13,000 stolen that day, which was never recovered by Bruce's family.
During the hearing, Wanda R. Bruce, Courtney Bruce's mother, said that her daughter wasn't perfect, but "she was on her way."
Wanda Bruce said she wanted a lengthier prison sentence for the men and wished there could be an "old-fashioned hanging."
"Why do they get to live their life and my baby don’t?" Wanda Bruce said.
Bruce swayed as she spoke to McIntyre and Williams in front of a courtroom gallery packed with about 20 supporters for the defendants, outnumbering the four people there for Courtney Bruce.
Both Williams and McIntyre apologized in court to Bruce's family.
At times, the courtroom gallery reacted audibly. After Williams' sentencing hearing, before he left the courtroom, his family shouted to him that they loved him. During discussions of McIntyre getting a life sentence, his family reacted negatively.
After McIntyre's sentencing hearing, before he left the courtroom, his family yelled so loud that sheriff's deputies had to warn them to quiet down.
A robbery and fatal shooting
On the day of the shooting, Bruce was in a car with a 25-year-old man on the 3700 block of Dort Place when a group of men with handguns approached the pair.
According to Columbus police, Murphy lured the pair there for a meeting. There was discussion of a drug deal and a rap video production, assistant prosecuting attorney Leigh Bayer said Monday in court.
The assailants robbed the man with Bruce of cash, jewelry and his cellphone, court records state. After Bruce resisted, McIntyre shot her and, according to Bayer. The men robbed her of $13,000 in cash, Bayer said.
The man with Bruce was not hurt, and he drove Bruce to Mount Carmel East hospital, where he left her at the entrance, Bayer said. Bruce was pronounced dead a short time later, around 6 p.m.
'Boog the Bandit' was an aspiring artist
In the months leading up to her death, Bruce released three songs. She was gaining some buzz and was reportedly working on music with Canton-born rapper Trippie Redd.
Before becoming a hip-hop artist, Bruce modeled, including for Chris Brown's Black Pyramid Clothing and Rob Kardashian's Arthur George Socks brand.
Sharon Richardson, Courtney Bruce's aunt, said in court Bruce was "making it out of the hood" and planned to "change her life and her mother's life."
Bayer said we'll never know what Bruce could have become.
"She would’ve been somebody we heard on the radio," Bayer said.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Two plead guilty in deadly robbery of Columbus rapper Boog the Bandit
