Man accused of shooting at ex-employer following termination

A man was dropping his 8-month-old daughter off at an East Wynnton Lane home on March 28 when an former employee he terminated weeks prior fired shots at his vehicle, according to testimony Wednesday morning in Columbus Recorder’s Court.

Jerome Lamar Stone, 25, of Columbus pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated assault related to the incident, which didn’t harm the infant but left her 25-year-old father with superficial wounds on the right side of his face.

Cpl. Jose Marrero said he and another Columbus police officer were responding to the shooting in the 2900 block of East Wynnton Lane around 5:45 p.m. that day when they were redirected to a separate location to speak with one of the victims.

The father told the responding officers he went to the East Wynnton Lane home to drop off his daughter at her grandmother’s home, where he saw Stone armed with a shotgun in an older model black SUV. That’s when the defendant allegedly fired shots at the rear of the father’s Ford F-150 while the father and girl were still inside, cause less than $200 worth of property damage, police said.

“The victim stated that the shotgun glass shattered his rear windshield as he drove away from the scene,” Marrero testified before later adding that the glass fell onto the baby, who was inches away from being struck by the bullets. “(The father) stated that Jerome was angry at him because Jerome had recently worked for him but was fired two weeks ago.”

Police located one 12-gauge shotgun shell found on the scene, but witnesses reported hearing two gunshots. Arrest warrants were then issued for Stone, who was taken into custody around 10 a.m. Friday, police said.

Stone was originally charged with an additional two counts of reckless conduct, but Judge Michael Cielinski dropped those charges after Columbus public defender Charles Lykins requested that he do so.

“We would maintain that they would be lesser included offenses in the aggravated assault charges under these circumstances,” Lykins said on Stone’s behalf. “Normally in a situation that’s volatile like this one when you discharge a gun, you either charge the person with reckless conduct or aggravated assault.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Man accused of shooting at ex-employer following termination."