By Christina Carrega
Capital B
Reprinted – by Texas Metro News
https://capitalbnews.org/
The recommended six-month sentence is the latest chapter for an Ohio county whose history is fraught with injustices.
Sinzae Reed, 13, was shot and killed on Oct. 12, 2022, outside his Columbus, Ohio, home. (Family photo)
For more than two years, Megan Reed has awaited some form of justice for her son, Sinzae. The 13-year-old was shot and killed just yards from the front door of his home by a man who says he opened fire in self-defense even though, police say, there is no evidence that the child had a weapon.
Reed’s wait came to an end on Friday — but perhaps not in the way that she hoped. Prosecutors in Franklin County, Ohio, this week began presenting their case against Krieg Allen Butler, 38, who has been charged with weapons offenses, but — to the disappointment of Reed and local activists — not homicide.
Before the jury could deliberate, Butler decided to plead guilty to both charges in the two count indictment in exchange for a less severe punishment. He faced up to 4½ years in prison, but instead prosecutors said they plan to recommend six months in jail followed by three years of probation. He is scheduled to be formally sentenced on Dec. 2, when Reed and members of Sinzae’s family will get the opportunity to address Butler.
Prosecutors also said in a statement that Butler has agreed to testify in the event that anyone ever is charged in connection with Reed’s death.
For Black residents here, the handling of the case feels all too familiar. Local advocates for criminal justice reform have said that there has long been an unequal standard for justice when suspects are white and victims are Black, as in the Butler case.
But community activists are encouraged that their quest for equity may have taken a significant step forward earlier this month with the election of a Black woman, Shayla Favor, as Franklin County’s chief prosecutor. Favor has expressed a commitment to making the system fairer.
“I am quite humbled that the residents of Franklin County have elected me,” Favor, 43, said in a recent interview with Capital B. “They believed in the vision that I ran on. I had a highly contested primary. And so, it feels like we finished this round, and now we’re on to the next, the next battle that’s before us.”
Reed’s hope for justice, however, is tempered by the track record of unsolved homicide cases in Columbus, Ohio. Many investigations have gone cold in the city — which has a 56% homicide clearance rate since 1965 — with the perpetrators remaining unidentified, especially in 2021 when homicides hit an all-time high. Residents say this is a familiar pattern for Franklin County, particularly in cases involving law enforcement — and particularly when those cases involve Black victims.
Criminal justice reform advocates have accused the prosecutor’s office of racial bias in its handling of brutality allegations; since its founding, the prosecutor’s office has been led by white men, while many of those alleging abuse by the police are Black.
After the election victory earlier this month by Favor, the first Black person to lead the prosecutor’s office, many Columbus voters say they are hopeful that accusations of police brutality will be investigated more thoroughly. Favor’s victory was historic: She won the primary against two other Black candidates — Delaware City Attorney Natalia Harris and Anthony Pierson, deputy chief counsel in the prosecutor’s office. And in November, Favor beat her Republican opponent.
Her win came just a day after Pierson secured Ohio’s first conviction in an on-duty police fatality case. The conviction of Adam Coy for the murder of Andre Hill, a Black man, represents a rare example of justice in police violence cases, said Karla White Carey, a board member for Ohio Families Unite Against Police Brutality.
Nationwide, only six other police officers have been convicted of murder since 2005, said Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University who tracks the murder and manslaughter convictions and indictments of police officers across the country.
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During her campaign, Favor promised that she would reexamine cases in which charges had not been filed.
“I am more than willing to sit down with those family members who have been waiting on justice for their loved ones that were senselessly killed in our community,” Favor said.
“I understand the weight of this moment”
Favor, who will give up her City Council seat when she takes office in 2025, has expressed her commitment to bringing about meaningful change.
“The reality is that there is no relationship right now between this office and our community,” Favor said candidly. “And it is too late when a tragedy has happened to try to build that relationship.”
Building — and rebuilding — relationships with the community is a point of emphasis for Favor, and one that she said should be shared by the county’s police officers. “I have talked about accountability and the fact that nobody is beyond reproach, and that is as it relates to prosecuting police misconduct and public corruption,” she said.
Ramon Obey II, a Columbus-based activist, said that Favor’s leadership brings fresh hope to activists and residents who have been waiting for justice in criminal cases like the Butler trial.
Favor’s supporters say that her experience — besides serving for six years on City Council, she also worked in the City Attorney’s Office for nearly a decade — has positioned her as someone who understands both the intricacies of the law and the widespread sense among members of the community that there has been an unequal pursuit of justice in the county, and will inform her approach to prosecutions.
Favor is also focused on diversifying the prosecutor’s office: It employs 130 attorneys, but fewer than eight assistant prosecutors identify as people of color. She said she is also aware of the need to address systemic issues in the office: She plans to review 39 police brutality cases brought prior to 2018, especially those where charges were not filed.
Each year, at least 1,000 people are killed by the police, according to the Mapping Police Violence database. A majority of those cases are traffic stops involving Black people.
“I think about the reality that I am facing,” she said. “I understand the weight of this moment.”
Carey views Favor’s historic win as a positive step. She also emphasized the significance of a Black woman holding this office, particularly given the history of systemic injustices. Ohio has had 110 overturned convictions since 1989; 67 of the exonerees in those cases were Black, according to the National Registry of Exoneration database.
“I was able to show my granddaughter what Black women are able to do if we put our minds to it,” said Carey, 63. While giving Favor time to find her footing, Carey and others in the community said they are eager to hold her accountable, as they would any elected official.
Favor has promised to work for transparency and accountability in the office. She has pledged to meet with families of victims who have been waiting for justice for loved ones killed in police encounters, like those of Casey Goodson Jr., Donovan Lewis, and Ta’Kiya Young.
These deaths have added to the long list of police brutality cases in Ohio. The Buckeye State has seen 377 fatal police incidents since 2013, with 38% of the victims being Black, according to the Mapping Police Violence database. One-third of those incidents have occurred in Franklin County, with 41 of those deaths attributed to Columbus police officers.
When Favor is sworn in, she will join the less than 1% of elected Black women prosecutors across the country. Columbus voters who supported Favor also backed Vice President Kamala Harris in her historic run to become the first Black woman president of the United States. Their votes reflected a desire for change — away from the white supremacy ideologies that were prominent during President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign and first term.
“When I think about what this role means, what this moment in time looks like, I feel the heaviness, the weight of this moment,” Favor said.
This story has been updated.
