Two North Side men sentenced in Franklin County court for separate fatal shootings

Jordan Laird, The Columbus Dispatch
·2 min read
Two men from Columbus' North Side have been sentenced in separate fatal shootings last year, one for murder in shooting at an East Side apartment and another for involuntary manslaughter in a shootout at a picnic in which the other participant died.
Two men from Columbus' North Side have been sentenced in separate fatal shootings last year, one for murder in shooting at an East Side apartment and another for involuntary manslaughter in a shootout at a picnic in which the other participant died.

Two men from Columbus' North Side have been sentenced to prison for separate, unrelated fatal shootings last year.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David C. Young last week sentenced 25-year-old Amir Elkhabiry to a minimum 30 years to life on prison — one year more than the minimum sentence — for the shooting death of a man at an East Side apartment building.

According to prosecutors, Elkhabiry shot and killed 27-year-old Melly Mel Marquise Smith in February 2021 while he was on parole for aggravated robbery.

Columbus police officers discovered Smith in the apartment building's shared stairwell, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to Mount Carmel East Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police believe Smith and Elkhabiry were arguing when Smith was shot. Officers found Elhabiry hiding in his girlfriend's trunk, holding the murder weapon, less than 100 yards from the scene.

In March, a Franklin County jury found Elkhabiry guilty of one count of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony, and one count of possessing a weapon under disability, a third-degree felony, as well as specifications to the crimes for using a firearm and being a repeat violent offender.

In another fatal shooting case, Raphiel LeMar Humphries, 35, of Columbus' North Side, is facing prison for killing a man in a 2020 shootout in Blendon Township.

Judge Young sentenced Humphries to a minimum of four years and a maximum of six years in prison. Humphries previously pleaded guilty in April to involuntary manslaughter. In exchange, Franklin County prosecutors dropped a murder charge.

According to Blendon Township police, Humphries and 34-year-old Michael Cory Davis, of South Linden, exchanged gunfire during an argument at a backyard gathering.

Both men were taken to area hospitals for treatment of multiple gunshot wounds, but Davis did not survive.

Jordan Laird is a criminal justice reporter at the Columbus Dispatch. You can reach her at jlaird@dispatch.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @LairdWrites.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County sentencings: Two men get prison time in fatal shootings