Why did a Columbus teen kill a man over a bicycle? Judge asks at sentencing
Before sentencing a Columbus teen to life in prison for killing a 60-year-old man at a bus stop to steal his bicycle, a judge asked the youth a question many have wondered:
“Why do all this?” Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters asked 19-year-old Tellious Savalas Brown. “All over a bicycle? This just doesn’t make sense.”
Brown, who was 17 when he fatally shot Roy Wilborn at a midtown bus stop the night of April 23, 2019, gave no explanation for his actions, but he did apologize to Wilborn’s family, at Peters’ prompting.
Peters sentenced him Tuesday not only for Wilborn’s murder, but for two other offenses on April 18, 2019, just five days earlier:
- Armed robbery of a Zaxby’s restaurant at 1915 Auburn Ave., where Brown confronted a worker outside and forced his way in the back door to take cash from the manager in the office.
- Aggravated assault by shooting at a Zaxby’s teen worker who got scared and ran out the back door.
While outlining these cases for the court Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Meghan Bowden said Brown wrecked while fleeing the restaurant, leaving his cell phone in the stolen 2004 Ford Explorer he was driving.
The teen initially was indicted on 16 charges, among them hijacking the Ford Explorer at gunpoint from a business owner in the 2000 block of Wynnton Road, also on April 18, 2019, before using the Ford in other crimes.
Brown’s other charges were dropped in exchange for his plea. Peters sentenced him to life with the possibility of parole, which typically means he must serve 30 years before he is eligible for release.
‘Like a nightmare’
Because Wilborn was to sleep overnight at the bus stop at the intersection of Illges Road and Rigdon Road, he was thought to be homeless at the time.
Addressing the judge during Brown’s sentencing, his family insisted that he was not without a home, but he “wandered.”
“He’s never really been homeless, per se,” said his sister, Delender Wilborn-Gardiner. Wilborn always was welcome in his relatives’ homes here, she said.
She described him as kind, quiet, shy and soft-spoken. He graduated high school and worked “many years” as a truck driver, she said. “Then at some point, he just kind of lost his way, so to speak,” she told Peters.
Wilborn’s daughter, Akiesha Shipman, said her father was always present when she brought her two sons to visit, and she had felt hopeful about his future.
When a 4 a.m. phone call informed her he had died, “I immediately thought hope was gone,” she said. “It was like a scary movie. It was like a nightmare.”
Still the victim’s family said they hope Brown can be redeemed, after serving his prison time. “We do believe in redemption,” Wilborn-Gardiner said.
Brown’s family also was in court Tuesday, but did not speak publicly. Some hugged Wilborn’s relatives afterward.
Brown was represented by Columbus attorney William Kendrick, who outside court said Brown’s family helped persuade him to plea, rather than going to trial.
“At the end of the day, it’s the right thing for him to do,” Kendrick said.
‘Tired of walking’
Wilborn’s fatal shooting was shocking partly because police said Brown wanted Wilborn’s bike because he was “tired of walking.”
While testifying at Brown’s May 2019 preliminary hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court, Detective Andrew Chesser was asked why Brown killed Wilborn.
“The only information that was relayed to me was that supposedly Mr. Brown was tired of walking,” the officer answered.
The evidence showed Brown did not act spontaneously: He had been in the Illges Road area for about 30 minutes before calling two friends to come there, telling them he was going to take Wilborn’s bike, prosecutors said.
Police said surveillance video from a nearby business showed the two friends waiting while Brown went to the bus stop. They quickly left when the gunfire started.
Bowden said Brown and Wilborn fought over the bike, and Wilborn did not give up the struggle when Brown shot him in the foot, so Brown shot him in the stomach. Wilborn died in the hospital the next morning.
Brown’s gunshots left two shell casings on the ground at the bus stop and a bullet lodged in a trashcan there, police said.
That evidence was matched to a 9-millimeter pistol officers found in a duffle bag in a Britt Avenue apartment police searched upon learning Brown had been staying there, investigators said. Police were able to identify him not only from surveillance video, but also from tips the public provided, detectives said.
This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 3:12 PM.