Judge postpones trial in brutal 2016 Upatoi triple homicide

The volume of evidence attorneys must dig through in the 2016 triple-homicide of a grandmother, son and granddaughter in Columbus’ Upatoi neighborhood has delayed the scheduled trial date for three youths charged in the case.

Superior Court Judge Gil McBride had set an Oct. 30 trial date for Raheam Gibson, Rufus Burks and Jervarceay Tapley, but defense attorneys in a pretrial hearing Monday persuaded the judge they could not be prepared by then.

McBride briefly considered only a week’s delay, to Nov. 6, but the defense lawyers thought that insufficient. Shevon Sutcliffe Thomas, who represents Tapley, thought two months would be more appropriate, in light of the triple-homicide’s extensive investigative file.

McBride then consulted the court calendar and moved the trial to Jan. 29.

Three other attorneys involved in the case – partners Mark Shelnutt and William Kendrick, who represent Gibson, and Jennifer Curry, who represents Burks – currently are in trial on another murder case, the 2016 fatal shooting of Demonde Donya Dicks Jr. at Columbus’ Double Churches Road Park.

That trial in Judge William Rumer’s courtroom is now in its second week. Kendrick told McBride he was in court at 3 p.m. Wednesday when the prosecution gave him 43 DVDs of evidence from the Upatoi case. The data included 15 hours and 34 minutes of video recordings and 122 minutes of audio, Kendrick said.

The attorney said he also received an external computer hard drive of material his staff needed days to upload before it was forwarded to Curry, who told McBride she got it at 11 a.m. Friday and spent two days over the weekend extracting the data. Thomas is next in line to get the material, so he hadn’t seen it yet, Curry said.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Al Whitaker objected to the defense describing the delivery of so much data as a “dump” of information on the opposing attorneys, but he did not oppose postponing the trial, as any verdict could be overturned on appeal if a higher court found the defense was inadequate because of insufficient preparation.

“We don’t want to have to try this a second time,” Whitaker said, so he deferred to McBride’s judgment in whether to delay the case. “I do know that the information they received is voluminous,” he said of the defense lawyers.

He noted, however, that prosecutors have been working with witnesses to have them ready for an Oct. 30 trial, and the victims’ family wants to get the case resolved quickly.

Kendrick countered that the suspects’ families also deserve justice.

“Your honor, if we’re going to do this right, let’s do it right for all the families involved,” he told McBride.

Among those in the courtroom Monday was Shameika Averett. She is the daughter of Gloria Short, 54; the mother of Gianna Lindsey, 10; and sister of Caleb Short, 17; each found dead in the Shorts’ 3057 Bentley Drive home in Upatoi on Jan. 4, 2016.

Asked how she felt after McBride postponed the trial, she said, “Just very frustrated.”

Curry afterward said the delay was a legal necessity, under the circumstances:

“My client deserves a fair trial, and he has a constitutional right to a fair trial, and part of a fair trial is having an attorney who’s prepared.”

The trial is expected to take at least two weeks. Authorities have said the homicides were particularly brutal, and the evidence will be graphic.

The deaths were reported about 8 a.m. that first Monday of 2016 when nurse Robert Short Sr. got home from working the night shift at a local hospital and found his wife, son and granddaughter slain.

Police said Gloria Short and her granddaughter were beaten and stabbed to death, and the son fatally bludgeoned. Adding to public outrage was evidence the killers gained little from the heinous crime: A PlayStation 4 console along with video games, $600 in coins that were stashed in a box made for storing wine, an Adidas jacket, camouflage pants, polo shirts, and numerous pairs of Nike sneakers, including Air Jordans, were among the goods taken.

Two vehicles also were stolen, but later found abandoned.

The defendants’ 30-count indictment charges them with 10 counts each: three counts of malice or intentional murder; three counts of felony murder for homicides involving the felony of aggravated assault; two counts of auto theft; and one each of kidnapping and first-degree burglary.

This story was originally published October 23, 2017 at 11:30 AM with the headline "Judge postpones trial in brutal 2016 Upatoi triple homicide."