Trial begins for man prosecutors say hired 14-year-old boy for 2 killings
Opening statements are expected Tuesday in the trial of a man who prosecutors say hired multiple people including a 14-year-old boy to carry out a fatal shooting, then two days later was involved in another killing.
Carl Godfrey faces 28 counts including aggravated murder in the two killings, which happened in February 2021.
The first homicide happened the afternoon of Feb. 16, 2021, in Westwood. Prosecutors say Godfrey was hired to kill someone and then offered to pay three others to carry out the killing.
The intended target and a woman were seriously wounded in the shooting. The man who was killed, 27-year-old Deontray Otis, was the driver of a vehicle the other victims were inside.
Prosecutors have not said who hired Godfrey to carry out the Feb. 16, 2021 killing. One of the people he’s accused of hiring, Jason Gray Jr., told police he expected to be paid about $10,000.
Two days before the shooting, Godfrey, then 20, sent a text message to 14-year-old Mikeem Thomas that said: “Hell yeah it’s on this week cuz … big money.”
Thomas is charged as an adult in a total of four separate killings and is awaiting trial. The Enquirer only names juveniles charged in crimes when their cases have been transferred to adult court.
Gray, now 21, admitted to police that he was involved in the shooting and has pleaded guilty to multiple charges.
According to prosecutors, Gray, Thomas and Mario Gordon, 33 – who is awaiting trial on charges including aggravated murder – were driven to the location where the shooting happened in a “bootleg cab.”
They were dropped off near an apartment building on Westwood Northern Boulevard and waited behind a wall until Godfrey told them to proceed, court documents say.
Shooting described as an ambush
The target, a man whose street name was “Sheisty,” was in a Saturn SUV. A woman also was inside and Otis was driving. They apparently had been told to go to the location.
Once Godfrey gave the go-ahead, according to court documents, Gray, Thomas and Gordon ran out from behind the wall, firing. Witnesses described them as wearing masks.
Court documents say Thomas’ gun, which had an extended clip, jammed, but he was able clear it and continue firing.
Otis tried to drive away, crashed into a parked car and died from his injuries. About 20 bullets, fired from three different guns, struck the SUV.
'The job ain't done'
Less than an hour after the shooting, according to court documents, Grey asked Godfrey in a Facebook message if he would receive payment.”
Godfrey responded: “The job ain’t done.”
Godfrey also is standing trial in a fatal shooting that happened two days later, on Feb. 18, 2021, in Millvale. That shooting, according to prosecutors, was in retaliation for another incident. Both Godfrey and Thomas are accused of being the shooters. A man who wasn’t the target, 30-year-old Donnell Steele, was killed.
The trial, before Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Jody Luebbers, began Monday with jury selection. It is expected to take two weeks.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trial begins for Carl Godfrey accused of hiring teen in killings
