Rodrick Curtis Jr., of North 7th Street, who is Goens’ first cousin, also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and received the same prison sentence of 4½ years.
Kalif Goens died in the July 24 shooting. He was Mondale's brother and Curtis' cousin, said Ann Ridley, the young men's grandmother who spoke on their behalf in court today.
Ridley stood before Judge Greg Stephens, speaking first for Goens.
“I have lost one. I ask you not taken him away from us for so long,” Ridley said. She added that Goens was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Defense attorney Lawrence Hawkins III echoed those sentiments and said Goens had only one previous adult case.
“There are a lot of things if Mondale could go back in time and change, he would,” Hawkins said. “For one, he would not have been there and he would make sure his brother wasn’t there.”
Goens offered short apology.
“I am sorry all this happened,” he said.
Ridley also said much the same for Curtis, whom she called “little Deon.”
“He has a baby out there,” she told the judge. Curtis’ girlfriend held a 6-month-old baby girl in the courtroom.
“This situation began long before the shooting. There are two families that have a great deal of animosity toward each other … for whatever reason the situation ignited and Deon got caught in the middle of it,” Scott Blavelt, Curtis’ attorney, said.
Last week, Cornell McKennelly II pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for firing the shot that killed Kalif Goens at the former Doubles Bar on Hamilton's west side.
Cory Cook II, 23, of 9th Street in Hamilton, pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault. He faces up to four years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced next week
Days after the shooting at Doubles Bar that injured seven people, two men were killed in a drive-by shooting in Hamilton, which was a murder for hire, according to court records.
Four people are facing the death penalty in the Central Avenue shooting and are scheduled for trial later this year They are:
- Zachary Harris, 24, of Columbus, charged with two counts of aggravated murder
- Tony Patete, 23, of Newark, two counts of aggravated murder
- Melinda Gibby, 35, of Lancaster, two counts of aggravated murder
- Michael Grevious II, 23, of Maple Ave., Hamilton, one count of aggravated murder
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