Woman behind the wheel in Hamilton drive-by shooting sentenced

On Thursday, the last piece to the puzzle was placed when Melinda Gibby, 37, of Columbus, the woman who drove the car in the double fatal shooting on Aug. 3, 2016, was sentenced to life in prison with possible parole after 30 years.

Gibby pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder in August 2017 to avoid the death penalty. For agreeing to testify, she faced 30 years in prison, instead of life.

Stephens said his “heart goes out to the families” impacted by the hired shooting, which he called “street activity.”

Before Gibby was sentenced, she turned to the two mothers who buried their sons, Todd Berus and Orlando Gilbert, and said she was “truly sorry” for her “reckless choices.”

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Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Brad Burress read a typed statement from Mary Berus, who said she wasn’t comfortable talking in court.

In part, she wrote: “Even after hearing your testimony in court, I don’t understand how you could purposely hunt down and murder two people you didn’t even know. My family has been destroyed and my son is dead because of you. My family is destroyed because of you and I will serve a life sentence as a grieving mother until I see my son again in heaven.”

Gibby was given credit for the 639 days served and her fines and court costs were waived because Stephens said she would be unable to pay them. She will be eligible for parole when she is 66 years old. The families of the victims have already said they will contest at her future parole hearings.

MORE: Melinda Gibby pleads to avoid death penalty

Gibby’s attorneys, David Brewer and Tamara Sack, painted a different picture of their client, whom they have represented for 18 months.

Brewer said Gibby was sexually molested by her father from the age of 5 until she was 11 years old. Her two sisters also were molested and their father is serving a life sentence, Brewer said.

The girls and their mother eventually moved to Ohio, but Gibby lived on the streets, seeking affirmation from men, her attorney said. He said one of Gibby’s sisters also is in prison, and the other one is missing.

“I never knew how scarred I was,” Gibby said.

Brewer, who has been practicing for 20 years, said this was his sixth death penalty case, and typically his clients are the same person the day he meets them and the day they’re sent to prison.

But, he said, Gibby is “a whole different person” since she’s been in prison.

“A pleasure to deal with,” he said.

Now that she has “a clear mind,” Gibby has talked to her nieces and nephews about the importance of education and “how to live their life,” Brewer said.

Sack said Gibby possesses “tremendous love and has tremendous ability to still do something” with her life in prison.

“I know how sorry and remorseful she is,” Sack said. “We cherish her.”