Crime & Justice
13-year-old Sinzae Reed was fatally shot by neighbor who walked free
According to the Columbus Dispatch, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s office initially charged Butler with murder, but a week later, on October 19, prosecutors dismissed the case in Municipal Court.
On October 12, 13-year-old Sinzae Reed was reportedly shot and killed by 36-year-old Krieg A. Butler Sr. in Columbus, Ohio.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s office initially charged Butler with murder, but a week later, on October 19, prosecutors dismissed the case in Municipal Court.
Columbus detectives say a claim of self-defense was made by Butler and his mother, but they did not further elaborate citing an ongoing investigation.
The fatal shooting of Sinzae Reed
How was Sinzae Reed killed?
Columbus police were called around 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 12 to the Wedgewood Apartments. Butler is a resident of the apartment complex.
According to police, an eyewitness who knows Butler saw him exit a red truck and fire multiple times at Sinzae, striking him several times. Butler then got into his vehicle and fled the scene, according to court records.
Officers found Sinzae suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. The 13-year-old was rushed to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m.
According to Columbus detective Kenneth O’Connor, Sinzae was shot four or five times, including in his right hand and back. An autopsy report from the Franklin County Coroner’s office is not yet complete.
Little to no attention
Sinzae’s murder has received little to no attention. Megan Reed, the mother of the victim, continues to seek justice for her murdered son.
She spoke to the North Carolina Beat about Butler’s self-defense claim. Reed wants to know what reason is justifiable for charges to be dropped.
“It has been almost three months, and I haven’t spoken to anybody about this investigation,” she said.
“I haven’t even spoken to the detective. They are all on his side, Kreig is a white man, and a detective is a white man too,” Reed continued.
The grieving mother said her son’s fatal shooting occurred after a conversation in their kitchen. After their talk, Sinzae’s mother thought her son returned to his room. That’s when a neighbor banged on her door, informing her that her son had been shot. “I didn’t even know he had [gone] outside. Until the knock at my door telling me he had been shot,” she explained.
After receiving the news, she went to the scene and found her son lying in blood from gunshot wounds. She mentioned that a witness said Butler Sr. committed the crime. “Soon as I got over there, everybody was like, ‘Kreig did this, Kreig did this,’” she recalled.
According to Reed, witnesses told her that Kreig allegedly shot Sinzae and then came back around and reshot him multiple times.
Reed said Butler fled the scene but was later captured and arrested at his house the next day. She also said Butler reportedly claimed her son had a gun, but she didn’t see a weapon when she went to the scene, nor witnesses saw a gun either.
The victim’s sister, Makayla Nichols, told The Dispatch, “A grown man killed a child and nobody cares. We want to know why he’s free.”
Prosecutors could still bring case against alleged shooter
Prosecutors could still bring the shooting case before a grand jury for indictment in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, which handles felony cases like murder.
A press release from Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Gary Tyack’s office Thursday afternoon said it is standard practice for almost every felony case filed in Municipal Court to be dismissed.
“Not every case initiated in Municipal Court is presented to the Grand Jury,” the release said. “This particular case is still under review for possible presentation to the Grand Jury, and unfortunately, I cannot advise you when the case will be presented to the Grand Jury.”
Crime & Justice
Paramedic involved in Elijah McClain’s death sentenced to probation, work release and community service
Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Jeremy Cooper, a former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine, has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Paramedic Jeremy Cooper sentenced
He had faced up to three years in prison but was sentenced to four years probation, 14 months of work release and 100 hours of community service.
Cooper and another paramedic, Peter Cichuniec, were found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in December in the death of McClain, 23, who was subdued by police and injected with ketamine on August 24, 2019.
Both paramedics had pleaded not guilty to the felony charges. Cichuniec was sentenced in March to five years in prison, the minimum.
Police stop turns fatal
McClain was walking home in August 2019 when the 23-year-old Black man was confronted by police officers who forcibly restrained him. When Aurora Fire Rescue paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec arrived, they injected him with ketamine.
He went into cardiac arrest in an ambulance a few minutes later and died three days after that.
The McClain family sued the city of Aurora for Elijah’s wrongful death and received a $15 million settlement.
Crime & Justice
Honor student killed by stray bullet while visiting Delaware State University
A shooting at Delaware State University has claimed the life of 18-year-old honor student Camay Mitchell De Silva.
Camay Mitchell De Silva, of Wilmington, Delaware, was shot and killed Sunday, on the Delaware State University campus.
The 18-year-old was visiting her best friend, a Delaware State student, when the tragic shooting occurred.
She was an honor student
De Silva was a 2023 graduate of Concord High School who graduated with a 3.0. She spent her first semester of college at Morgan State University in Baltimore but decided she wanted to come home to Delaware.
She then attended Delaware Technical Community College and planned to attend DSU in the fall to pursue a degree in Computer Science, with the goal of working in cybersecurity.
De Silva often hung out on campus with her best friend to get comfortable before attending DSU.
Delaware State shooting
The family said De Silva was visiting that friend at DSU on Saturday, April 20, and attended a party on campus that night. Around 1:40 a.m. on April 21, DSU Police received a report of shots fired on campus. The responding officers found De Silva in a residence hall suffering from a gunshot wound to her upper body. The officers administered aid and then took her to a nearby hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.
Police say De Silva was not the intended target. Dover Police Department Chief Thomas Johnson Jr. told NBC10 there was a dispute that she was not involved in and she was hit by a stray bullet.
The suspects were seen fleeing the area and no arrests have been made, said authorities.
Dover Police released a statement from De Silva’s family requesting time to grieve and to plan for her celebration of life.
They also said they pray for and support the DSU community, law enforcement and the local community as they are “forced to manage this tragedy.”
Delaware State shooting investigation
Dover Police are still pursuing leads in the fatal shooting of Camay Mitchell De Silva.
Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at 302-736-7130 or reach out to Delaware Crime Stoppers at 800-TIP-3333.
Crime & Justice
Exonerated man on a mission to rebuild his life
C.J. Rice, a man who served more than 12 years behind bars for an attempted murder he was falsely convicted of, was officially exonerated on March 18, 2024. He is now on a mission to rebuild his life.
Charles “CJ” Rice was just 17 years old when he was convicted of a crime he did not commit.
CJ Rice Exonerated
Now 30 year old Rice is using the injustice of the last 13 years to galvanize the life he almost spent behind bars after being exonerated and declared legally innocent of the crime he was convicted of in 2013 on March 18, 2024.
According to the GoFundMe, CJ wants to “embrace this opportunity” and become a paralegal.
With the help of Dream.org, the GoFundMe aims to help CJ start a new life with everything from a place to stay to clothes to wear as he builds a new future.
The CJ Rice case
CJ Rice, formally known Charles J. Rice, was convicted in a September 2011 shooting for attempted murder and sentenced to 30-60 years behind bars in 2013.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the South Philadelphia shooting left a woman identified as Latrice Johnson, a 6-year-old girl and two others injured.
Johnson called 911 after the shooting and described the suspects as two men running away in hoodies and black sweatpants but couldn’t fully identify them.
Through an initial investigation with victims in the hospital, Rice’s co-defendant, Tyler Linder, was identified as one of the shooters. Detectives interviewed Johnson while she was in the hospital and she identified 17-year-old Rice as one of the shooters running away although she hadn’t seen the teen in a few years. Rice had been friends with Johnson’s son when he was younger, according to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
In her description, Johnson said Rice was wearing a hoodie and claimed that she was able to see his full face and long braids poking out the side of the hood. However, Rice’s arrest photo depicted him with shorter cornrows flushed against his head. Despite this, a case against Rice and Linder was built.
According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, among the evidence was a theory that the shooting was retaliatory, which wasn’t proven. That’s because Rice was shot and injured a few days prior. It’s alleged the suspects ran from the scene, and Rice’s counsel never used his medical records as evidence to help Rice’s case.
Rice’s case received national attention after CNN anchor Jake Tapper began reporting on it. His father, Dr. Theodore Tapper, is Rice’s former doctor and treated his injuries.
Although it was alleged that the shooters ran from the 2011 crime scene, this is something that Dr. Tapper believed Rice just physically couldn’t do at the time.
Officials believed the 2011 shooting involved gang affiliations, leading the DA’s Gun Violence Task Force to begin their investigation to see whether or not Rice could be re-tried for the shooting or to dismiss the charges in full.
This suggestion of motive and the sole faulty eyewitness identification of CJ led to his conviction on four counts for attempted murder.
A free man
Rice’s defense counsel filed a habeas petition to get CJ out of prison and have his conviction overturned.
On March 18, 2024, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas granted the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss all charges against Rice, officially making CJ a free man.
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