Witness: Columbus teen who fatally shot another teen girl went for gun after brief fight
Two mothers cried in a Franklin County courtroom — one because her teen daughter is dead and the other because her teen daughter is on trial for aggravated murder and other charges.
Marizah Thomas was 16 years old, a month away from turning 17, on July 12, 2021, when she fatally shot 17-year-old Jayce O'Neal in the neck and leg after fighting outside Thomas' home on Columbus' Far West Side, city homicide detectives charge.
Thomas, now 19, is on trial this week in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on charges of aggravated murder, murder and tampering with evidence.
County prosecuting attorneys and Thomas' defense attorney, Sam Shamansky, agreed in opening statements on Wednesday that the fight centered around a boy and that there was a shooting. But that's where the agreement ends.
According to Shamansky, Thomas contends that she shot O'Neal in self-defense after O'Neal, who had threatened to kill her, came to Thomas' home and the two teens fought.
During opening statements, Franklin County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Glenn Jones repeatedly emphasized to the jury that "the fight was over" when Thomas shot O'Neal.
"The defendant chose to go get the gun and return to become the aggressor and use the weapon against an unarmed woman," Jones said.
The case is representative of two major trends in Franklin County. More than 50 young defendants under 18 have been charged with murder in the county in the last three years, mostly for shootings and many for the deaths of other teenagers.
Meanwhile, an increasing number of defendants on trial for murder in Franklin County are asserting they killed to protect themselves since the Ohio General Assembly enacted "stand your ground" changes to state laws in recent years, prosecutors and police say. More than half the time in such trials last year in Franklin County, the defendant won, an analysis by The Dispatch found.
Witness: Brief fight led to 'really ugly' shooting
It was an idyllic, warm summer evening with neighbors outside chatting until gunfire echoed along Ridgebury Drive in the Hilliard Village complex, one of Thomas' neighbors who was a witness to the shooting testified Wednesday.
Shamansky alleged in opening statements that much led up to the shooting.
The two girls had dated the same boy. O'Neal dated now-21-year-old Ibrahim Ismail before he shifted his romantic interest to Thomas, according to Shamansky. Ismail is expected to testify later in the case.
"Unfortunately, Jayce started to lose it," Shamansky said. "This youngster, this decedent, was over there multiple times threatening to kill Marizah. And I'll prove it. She was there with a gun (before)."
At one point, Shamansky alleged, O'Neal went to a Kentucky Fried Chicken where Thomas worked and threatened her.
Thomas was home alone with Ismail "minding her own business in her own home" when Thomas came over that evening in July 2021, Shamansky said.
Prosecution witness Al Bretz testified Wednesday that he saw O'Neal arrive and begin kicking the doors on Thomas' car. Within seconds, Bretz said, Thomas came outside.
"Marizah came out and they started to fight. It was a hair-pulling contest and I told my neighbors, 'Catfight over here. Gee, you've never seen this before in the neighborhood,'" Bretz said.
Bretz testified that after about a minute-long fight, Thomas went back inside her mother's home and retrieved a gun.
Betz recorded a video on his cellphone that was played in court in which two shots can be heard seconds apart. Betz called 911.
"(O'Neal) was bleeding profusely out of her neck. Blood everywhere. It was really ugly," Betz said on the witness stand. "I wish I could unsee it."
Neighbors with medical training attempted to save O'Neal, who was transported by medics to OhioHealth Doctors Hospital. She was pronounced dead there about an hour later.
Police arrested Thomas the following morning and charged her in Franklin County Juvenile Court. Her case was eventually bound over to adult court.
Thomas' jury trial could go into next week.
jlaird@dispatch.com
@LairdWrites
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Witness: Columbus teen fought with teen girl, then got gun and fired
