Father of two’s killer sentenced in 2014 Adair Avenue ambush

The killer who ambushed a father of two on Adair Avenue off Wynnton Road in 2014 will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Judge Gil McBride sentenced 25-year-old Sacorey McKelvey to life without parole in the April 24, 2014, fatal shooting of Corey Owens, for whom McKelvey lay in wait at the foot of a hill Owens descended as he drove away from Rivers Homes, 1050 Adair Ave.

When Owens pulled up to a stop sign there, McKelvey emerged from hiding and opened fire on Owens’ white Chevy Suburban, then ran to a waiting black Pontiac that sped away.

Owens, 29, died the next day in the hospital, with a bullet in his head. He left behind a 2-year-old son and 11-month-old daughter, whom he’d been leaving the apartments to pick up when he was shot about 1:50 p.m. that day.

Witnesses said they saw the gunman lurking near the intersection before the shooting, and described his getaway car to police.

Witness Dominic Cobb told police he was riding through the area with his wife when he saw a man matching McKelvey’s description get into a black Pontiac Grand Am, which Cobb and his wife followed east on Wynnton Road, calling 911 to give dispatchers a partial tag number.

Police traced the registration to McKelvey’s sister, and in about 15 minutes investigators saw the car outside a Debby Street home. In its console cupholder, they found a construction company paycheck with McKelvey’s name on it.

Police Sgt. Jason Brown said officers later learned McKelvey was inside the Debby Street home when they arrived, but he fled out the back and remained on the loose until his capture the following June 5.

McKelvey was feuding with Owens and his brothers, who two days earlier had beaten and disarmed him when he confronted them with a gun, prosecutors said.

McKelvey angrily approached the brothers at Rivers Homes the Tuesday before the Thursday homicide because he blamed them for a 2009 terroristic threats conviction that led to his losing a job. Also he’d heard the brothers had been robbed of marijuana, and he hoped they would pay him for tips on who was responsible.

He wanted them to give him money or marijuana, investigators said. Instead they told him to leave, and when he pulled a gun, they beat him up and took it away. He left saying he was going to kill them, authorities said.

Owens’ family claimed McKelvey started stalking them after that. He blamed them for his earlier conviction on three counts of making terroristic threats because the three victims all were associated with the Owens brothers.

A jury on July 14 found McKelvey guilty after only 2½ hours’ deliberation. He was convicted of murder, aggravated assault and using a gun to commit a crime.

For sentencing, McKelvey’s aggravated assault and murder charges merged. McBride sentenced him to life without parole for murder with an additional five years for the gun charge.

Owens’ mother provided a statement that victims’ advocate Nikki Smith read aloud in court.

“This tragedy was so hard to face and deal with that the mother of his children feared for her safety and her kids and had to move away from Columbus,” it said in part. “My granddaughter was just a baby, and she does not remember her father. My grandson will never be able to celebrate his birthday because his father died two days before his birthday.... Losing someone you love leaves a hole in your heart, something that can never be filled quite the same as it used to be.”

This story was originally published September 5, 2017 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Father of two’s killer sentenced in 2014 Adair Avenue ambush."