Jury finds two guilty in Charlie Artis murder

Two men are facing life in prison after a jury convicted them of murder on Tuesday in the 2012 robbery and homicide of Columbus barber Charlie Artis.

The jury reached its verdict around11 a.m. after three hours of deliberation.

Judge Art Smith III set the sentencing of Donteviouse Doleman and Edward Lee for 3 p.m. today. Demetrice Scott, the codefendant who made a plea deal to testify against Doleman and Lee, is to be sentenced at 10 a.m. He is expected to get 30 years in prison.

Though much of the trial focused on Artis’ Jan. 5, 2012, homicide, the defendants also faced multiple felony counts related to a series of crimes committed from Dec. 15, 2011, when Scott and Doleman robbed a woman of her Kia Sport, through Jan. 19, 2012, when all three were arrested for stealing a neighbor’s Xbox video game system.

Besides murder, Lee was convicted on three counts each of aggravated assault and using a firearm to commit a crime, two counts of burglary and one count each of theft and attempted robbery.

Besides murder, Doleman was convicted of three counts each of armed robbery and burglary, two counts each of aggravated assault and using a firearm to commit a crime and one count each of auto theft and theft by taking, according to his indictment.

Court records show Scott pleaded guilty Feb. 15 to three counts each of aggravated assault, armed robbery and burglary, four counts of using a firearm to commit a felony, and one count each of rape, attempting to commit a felony, felony theft and misdemeanor theft.

In closing arguments on Monday, jurors heard two distinctly different views of evidence in Artis’ shooting.

Defense attorney Jennifer Curry, who represents Lee, told jurors that witnesses gave police differing descriptions of the gunman who robbed and shot Artis outside Charlie’s Barbershop in Gunboat Plaza off Milgen Road.

Some described a tall man with a long dreadlock hairstyle, she said, but Lee is short, and has short hair.

Prosecutor Wesley Lambertus said that wasn’t true: A customer entering the shop before the shooting that Thursday testified that he noticed the suspect in a blue hooded sweatshirt waiting outside, and he looked down to see into the suspect’s face.

That witness later picked Lee’s picture from a photographic lineup, and so did two others, Lambertus said.

Curry said witnesses at first picked another man from photo lineups that did not include Lee. That man had dreadlocks, and police went so far as to get a warrant for the man’s arrest before determining he was innocent.

And then there’s “Chris,” a fourth suspect who was not on trial and didn’t come into evidence until May 13, when Scott, testifying for the prosecution, said a man named Chris was with the crew that went to rob Artis.

Scott said Chris was in a green car with him, Lee and Doleman when they drove to Gunboat Plaza to case Artis’ shop. A witness reported seeing four men in a green car creeping past the shop that day.

Chris was not on trial because authorities don’t know who he is. Lambertus said Scott never mentioned Chris until shortly before he testified in court.

Scott said Chris left the green car a few minutes before Lee. The men parked the car at Stratford Lane Apartments, on the far side of a wooded area east of Gunboat Plaza.

Lee, wearing a blue hoodie and armed with a .38-caliber revolver, left to go rob Artis, then later came running back and ordered the men waiting on him to speed away, Scott said. Chris got back in the car around the same time, he said.

After the homicide, two eyewitnesses gave a police sketch artist their recollection of the man they saw outside the shop. When shown that sketch in court, Scott said it was Chris.

Attorney Will Kirby, who represents Doleman, hammered on that in his closing.

“Who is in this sketch?” he asked, holding the sketch for jurors to see, and later telling them, “Ladies and gentlemen, Chris is the shooter.”

Kirby also blasted the plea deal Scott got, noting the suspect faced five life sentences were he convicted of his initial charges, but now is expected to serve 30 years. All of Scott’s murder charges were dropped, even though it was his idea to rob Artis, and he drove the getaway car.

Besides Artis’ murder, here’s a list of all the other crimes authorities said Lee, Doleman and Scott carried out:

▪ A Dec. 15, 2011, armed robbery in which Scott and Doleman robbed a woman of her Kia Sport

▪ A second Dec. 15, 2011, armed robbery in which Scott, Doleman and Lee took a woman’s Lexus.

▪ A Dec. 20, 2011, attempted robbery and shooting at Hometown Grocery, 1159 27th St., where Scott and Lee shot at a 47-year-old man leaving the store, damaging a 2008 Honda Odyssey.

▪ A Dec. 21, 2011, burglary at a 19th Street apartment, where Scott and Doleman took a TV, prescription drugs and the keys to a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox that was stolen six days later.

▪ A Jan. 6, 2012, break-in at a 14th Street residence where they took $6,000 worth of goods.

▪ A Jan. 11, 2012, burglary in which the three broke into a home in the 2300 block of 14th Avenue.

▪ A Jan. 15, 2012, break-in at a 23rd Street home, where at gunpoint Scott raped the woman living there as the three took $1,000 worth of loot along with the woman’s 2006 Chevrolet Aveo.

▪ A Jan. 19, 2012, theft in which Scott, Doleman and Lee stole a neighbor’s Xbox game system.

The latter incident led to their arrests when police searching for the video game player in a residence where the three men were staying found a Rohm-brand .38-caliber revolver later connected to Artis’ shooting, investigators said.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Jury finds two guilty in Charlie Artis murder."