COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Two Oho teenagers have been sent to youth prison in connection with fatal shootings last year in Columbus, one of which authorities said involved another teen killed over a cellphone and the other was described an accidental shooting of a friend by a youth playing with a gun.
One defendant was 13 when he shot and killed 14-year-old Jaykwon Sharp near an East Side elementary school in May 2019, the Columbus Dispatch reported. The now-14-year-old youth entered an admission to a charge of delinquency murder earlier this month.
A Franklin County juvenile court judge committed him to a youth prison but under a plea agreement he can apply for early release six months before his 21st birthday. Because he was under age 14 at the time of the offense, he was ineligible for prosecution as an adult under Ohio law.
Prosecutors said the shooting occurred during an argument over a cellphone near a playground for Shady Lane Elementary School. A 14-year-old girl was also wounded, but a delinquency felonious assault charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
In the other shooting death, a 16-year-old youth was committed to a Department of Youth Services prison for 18 months after a July 30 admission to delinquency reckless homicide with a gun specification. Authorities said he was 15 when a handgun he was playing with discharged, killing his 14-year-old friend, Xavier Quinn, in July 2019.
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