COLUMBUS — A former Columbus police officer has learned his sentence for the deadly 2022 shooting of a 20-year-old man.
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A judge sentenced Ricky Anderson to three years of community control. As our news partners at WBNS reported, if he violates the terms of his community control, he would go to prison.
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Anderson was charged in 2023 with murder and reckless homicide in connection with the death of Donovan Lewis. As WBNS reported, he entered an Alford plea for the reckless homicide charge earlier this year.
As News Center 7 previously reported, Lewis was killed when Columbus officers executed a search warrant in August 2022.
Body cam footage showed officers entering the home and commanding occupants to come out. Officers then opened a door next to the kitchen, where Anderson opened fire.
At the time, Lewis was reportedly sleeping and was awoken by officers opening his bedroom door. Lewis was unarmed.
WBNS reported that he appeared to have been holding a vape pen before he was shot.
Anderson was placed on paid leave while the investigation ensued, but he later retired in “bad standing” due to the investigation into Lewis’ death.
Lewis’ family filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Columbus and the Columbus Division of Police in 2024, accusing police of systemic excessive force and racial issues.
In a statement, an attorney representing the family said they’re disappointed that, for them, the sentence did not “reflect what happened” to Lewis.
“We respect the Court’s decision, and we know the judge was limited to a maximum of three years for reckless homicide in Ohio. But I don’t think many people would see this as accountability for the death of a 20-year-old in his own bed,” Bart Keyes of Cooper Elliott said in part.
In a statement, Franklin County Prosecutor Shayla D. Favor told WBNS that “a sentence without prison time fails to adequately reflect the gravity of this offense.”
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