COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A person charged with murdering a neighborhood Somali group chief filed to waive his proper to a jury trial.
John Wood Jr., who’s accused of killing 48-year-old Mohamed Hassan Adam, filed a movement on Friday asking that as an alternative of a trial by jury to have a bench trial as an alternative. Wood faces 11 prices stemming from the December 2021 homicide.
Within the movement, protection lawyer Paul Scarsella states that Wood wouldn’t obtain a good trial by jury as a result of his felony historical past and that presenting prior convictions on this case could be “inherently prejudicial”.
Wood has beforehand been sentenced to 18 months in jail for a hid weapons cost in 1994, 5 years of group management for felonious assault in 2001, for which he served two years in jail after a probation violation. In 2006, Wood was sentenced to a few years in jail for a theft he dedicated in 2004.
Wood was additionally sentenced to 10 years in federal jail after robbing an Higher Arlington McDonalds, taking up $3,200. He was launched 9 months earlier than Adam’s homicide, which is believed to have occurred on Dec. 22, 2021 when he was initially reported lacking.
On that day, Wood allegedly shot Adam a number of instances and left his physique in a van, which was discovered two days later close to the intersection of Joyce Avenue and Windsor Avenue in South Linden.
Police launched a video that confirmed a person driving the van wherein Adam’s physique was found and a $20,000 reward was provided by Central Ohio Crime Stoppers for data resulting in an arrest. The driving force of the van seems to be sporting a purple bandana and white or latex gloves, mentioned investigators. Police mentioned it appeared sooner or later Wood and Adam have been concerned in a enterprise transaction previous to the homicide.
Wood was held on a $2 million bond and faces 11 prices, together with homicide, aggravated homicide, kidnapping, aggravated theft, felonious assault, having weapons underneath incapacity, illegal use of a weapon as a violent profession felony and a federal cost of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Isaiah Brown Miller, 24, was was additionally charged with aggravated theft and kidnapping in connection to Adam’s homicide and tried individually.
