A drug dealer killed two brothers at a downtown Columbus Motel 6. Here’s his sentence.
A man charged with murder for gunning down two brothers at Columbus’ downtown Motel 6 has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters sentenced Jacob Andrew Martel to 30 years in prison, with 18 years to serve and the rest on probation.
Martel claimed he shot Eric Giddens, 21, and Quindarrius Giddens, 22, in self-defense at the 1325 Veterans Parkway motel on March 24, 2021, when the two brothers tried to rob him.
Martel told police the brothers tried to take a gun he had offered to sell. Investigators decided the pair had tried to rob Martel, using a pellet pistol that looked like a real gun, but they were trying to take a pound of marijuana, not a gun.
The robbery was interrupted by Martel’s cousin, who came back after leaving the room to buy food at Burger King.
The cousin returned with his hands full, and saw through the door that a gun was aimed at Martel’s head. He pulled his own pistol, backing away and shouting for other guests to call the police.
A three-minute standoff ensued, as the brothers held Martel in the room, yelling at the cousin that they just wanted to leave, and would let Martel go if the cousin relented.
They eventually released Martel, who walked out of the room, took his cousin’s gun and started shooting, prosecutors said.
He first shot Eric Giddens in the breezeway outside the room, then shot him again. He walked to the room and shot Quindarrius Giddens in the back.
Martel, 25 at the time, then packed the gun and drugs in duffle bags and hid them before police arrived. Besides the marijuana, he had 40 grams of methamphetamine.
Plea and evidence
Martel pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of voluntary manslaughter, and to trafficking meth and possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute it.
The prosecutor was Chief Assistant District Attorney Don Kelly. Martel was represented by defense attorney Michael Garner.
Martel had planned to claim self-defense at trial, though police felt the shooting was unnecessary, as he and his cousin were in no danger, once he left the motel room.
They had at least three avenues of escape, a detective said.
At Martel’s 2021 preliminary hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court, police Sgt. Thomas Hill said Martel told investigators he had arranged to meet Eric Giddens in the room to sell a .380-caliber handgun.
Hill said Martel claimed Giddens and his older brother saw Martel had left marijuana sitting out, when they arrived at Room 524. When Martel showed Eric Giddens the gun, Giddens pointed it at him, and told him they would rob Martel of all he had, the officer said.
Motel security video showed that when the cousin arrived, he and Eric Giddens shouted at each other in the breezeway, and other guests overheard the ruckus, Hill testified.
Unaware of the drug deal, and assuming others were calling the police, the cousin told Giddens officers were on their way.
Then Martel walked “casually” out and grabbed the cousin’s gun as Eric Giddens, carrying a gray duffle bag, stepped out of the room behind him, Hill testified. Martel turned and fired as Giddens fell, dropping the bag, the detective said.
Martel ran back to the room to shoot Quindarrius Giddens, then hid the gray duffle bag and a black handbag in a first-floor stairwell, and tossed another bag onto a second-floor motel roof, Hill said.
Police found no weapons on Quindarrius Giddens. They found the pellet pistol in Eric Giddens’ left pants pocket, Hill said.
Police found Martel’s .380-caliber handgun in the black handbag hidden in the stairwell, the detective said.
Martel’s cousin later told investigators he felt Martel’s actions were “excessive” and “went too far,” Hill said.
This story was originally published March 22, 2023 at 11:37 AM.