One triple homicide suspect to plead in brutal 2016 slayings, a second withdraws plea

Raheam Daniel Gibson, one of three defendants who were set for trial this week in the brutal 2016 homicides of a grandmother, son and granddaughter in Columbus’ Upatoi area, agreed to plead guilty Monday, the day jury selection began in what’s expected to be a three-week trial.

A second suspect, Jervarceay Tapley, also had agreed to plead guilty, but he abruptly withdrew that plea when Judge Gil McBride asked him whether he in fact was among the three people who committed the homicides.

Tapley refused to answer. After talking quietly to his attorney, he withdrew his plea and said he wanted to go to trial, leaving him and Rufus Leonard Burks IV as the remaining defendants.

About 130 prospective jurors were summoned for the pool from which attorneys are to pick a panel to hear the murder case against the suspects charged in the Jan. 4, 2016, slayings of Gloria Short, 54; her son Caleb Short, 17; and granddaughter Gianna Lindsey, 10.

Attorneys were going over the procedure for questioning jurors Monday morning when Gibson’s lawyer Mark Shelnutt mentioned a deal for his client, after which the others began to negotiate. District Attorney Julia Slater had representatives from the victims’ family move to a back room, where they could be updated as McBride had defense attorneys move to his chambers for their discussions. 

At 11:15 a.m., all returned to the courtroom, where Tapley at first agreed to plead guilty to three counts of malice or deliberate murder, then withdrew the plea under the judge’s questioning.

This followed his attorney Shevon Sutcliffe Thomas’ telling McBride that Tapley wanted to enter a guilty plea while acknowledging the evidence against him was sufficient for a conviction, but taking no responsibility for the homicides. McBride said he would not be inclined to accept that.

After Tapley still agreed to plea, McBride asked whether he was being “coerced” to do so, and he said he was. Thomas tried to clarify that, telling McBride his client meant he felt compelled to plea by the strength of the evidence against him and by media coverage of the case.

When asked the same question again, Tapley said he was not being forced to plead guilty.

Then the judge asked whether Tapley was, in fact, one of the three people who committed the killings, and seconds ticked by as Tapley at first shook his head and stood silent.

Then he said he wanted to go to trial, though Senior Assistant District Attorney Al Whitaker warned that he would not be tried just on three counts of malice murder, but on each of the 10 counts in his indictment.

Burks was unable to reach a deal with prosecutors, who wanted only a “cold plea” with no deal on what his sentence would be.

Gibson is to be sentenced after the trial, in which he now is expected to testify. Neither prosecutors nor his defense attorneys would reveal the terms of his plea.

To provide background for the plea Tapley later withdrew, Whitaker recited what prosecutors believe to be the facts of the case:

He said Tapley was acquainted with the Shorts because Gloria Short’s brother was his grandmother’s boyfriend, and he lived with the couple. The Shorts treated him like a cousin, Whitaker said.

On Jan. 3, 2016, Tapley talked to the other suspects about wanting to “make a lick,” meaning to commit a robbery. The three that night used a bicycle and moped or motorized bike to travel from south Columbus to the Shorts’ 3057 Bentley Drive home off McKee Road in Upatoi.

Police later tracked their movements through cell phone records, Whitaker said. Those communications ceased for about about 75 minutes after the suspects reached Bentley Drive, he said.

At 8 a.m. the next day, the first Monday in January 2016, Gloria Short’s husband Robert Short Sr., a nurse, came home from working the night shift at a local hospital and found the three bodies. Authorities said autopsies showed each victim had “extreme blunt-force trauma to the head,” and Gloria Short and Gianna also had “multiple stab wounds.”

Two days later, on Jan. 6, 2016, Gibson’s mother called police to report her daughter had told her Gibson was involved in the case. Gibson later implicated the other two suspects, and divulged other details, police said.

Among the loot taken from the Shorts’ home were some of Caleb’s clothes, including an Adidas jacket, camouflage pants, polo shirts, and several pairs of Nike sneakers, plus video games and $600 in coins stashed in a box made for storing wine, police said.

Whitaker said photos of people wearing Caleb’s stolen clothes appeared on Facebook soon afterward. A fourth individual had been in on the planning, but got sidetracked the day of the homicides, Whitaker said. That witness later got some of Caleb’s clothes, the prosecutor said.

Also missing from the Shorts’ home were two vehicles, a green 2004 GMC Envoy and silver 2014 Volkswagen Beetle. Both were found abandoned in the Oakland Park neighborhood off South Lumpkin Road.

More than a dozen of the Shorts’ relatives were in the courtroom Monday, but declined to address the court before Tapley’s anticipated plea. They said they would speak at the suspects’ sentencing.

Other matters still before the court were motions from Thomas and Burks’ attorney Jennifer Curry for a change of venue. They argue pretrial publicity has been so pervasive their clients can’t get a fair trial in Columbus.

McBride instructed news media in the courtroom Monday to photograph no one in the jury pool and record no images of the crime scene or of the victims’ autopsy photos. The crime scene photos reportedly are particularly graphic, and typically local media do not present such images to the public.

After Tapley withdrew his plea around noon, McBride called for a recess until 1:30 p.m. At 2 p.m., the entire jury pool was seated for preliminary instructions and some questioning from the judge.

During that questioning, only three people in the pool acknowledged having formed an opinion on the suspects’ guilt or innocence. No one admitted having any bias toward the defendants.

After the entire jury pool left the courtroom, a group of 13 was brought in for more detailed questions. Nine raised their hands when asked if they were aware of the murder case. “I can’t see how anyone can say they did not have knowledge that this happened,” said one man.

McBride adjourned court at 4:50 p.m., telling jurors in the first group being questioned to return at 9 a.m. Tuesday. A second group is to be back in the Government Center at 10:30 a.m., and a third’s to return about 1:30 p.m.

A fourth group’s to come back at 9 a.m. Wednesday, and a fifth at 1 p.m. that day. Two more groups, totaling 27, will be asked to return at 9 a.m. Thursday. The rest will be told to call the jury manager that day to see if they’re needed.

After the court surveys jurors in groups of 14 or so, each juror’s to be questioned individually about pretrial publicity and similar issues, so others in the pool don’t hear those answers.

The jury selection is expected to occupy most of this week.

The defendants’ July 26, 2016, indictment charges them with 10 counts each: three counts of malice or intentional murder; three counts of felony murder for allegedly killing the three victims while committing the felony of aggravated assault; two counts of auto theft; and one count each of kidnapping and first-degree burglary.

The burglary charge accuses the suspects of entering the Shorts’ home with the intent to commit theft. The kidnapping count lists Caleb as the only victim, alleging the three suspects “did unlawfully steal away Caleb Short without lawful authority or warrant and held such person against his will, said act resulting in bodily injury.”

At the time of the homicides, Gibson was 19 years old; Tapley was 16; and Burks was 15. Each could face life in prison.

This story was originally published January 29, 2018 at 10:36 AM with the headline "One triple homicide suspect to plead in brutal 2016 slayings, a second withdraws plea."