Former Columbus police officer admits guilt in reckless homicide case related to Black man’s death in 2022.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A former police officer in Ohio has pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, a lesser charge stemming from the fatal shooting of a Black man in his bed four years ago. The plea was entered by Ricky Anderson, a former K-9 officer with the Columbus Police Department, on Wednesday in a Franklin County court.

Anderson opted for an Alford plea, which allows defendants to acknowledge that prosecutors possess sufficient evidence for a conviction without admitting guilt. In return for this plea, prosecutors agreed to drop a more severe murder charge. The case involves the 2022 shooting of Donovan Lewis, a 20-year-old man, during an early morning attempt by police to apprehend him on various warrants, including those related to domestic violence and felony firearm charges.

On the night of the incident, officers arrived at Lewis’s apartment around 2 a.m. to execute the arrest. While Anderson’s legal team has maintained that evidence would support the claim that the officer acted justifiably in using deadly force, a representative for Lewis’s family contends that body-camera footage indicates that Anderson discharged his weapon within a second of entering the bedroom where Lewis was sleeping. The family has filed a pending civil lawsuit against the former officer.

The shooting has intensified scrutiny on the Columbus Police Department, which has faced calls for reform and accountability following a series of fatal encounters with Black individuals, including the highly publicized killing of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant in April 2021. The U.S. Department of Justice intervened in 2021, agreeing to review departmental practices following these incidents and the response to the racial justice protests that erupted in 2020.

Sentencing for Anderson has yet to be scheduled. His possible consequences range from probation to a maximum of three years in prison, as indicated by his defense attorney. In response to the plea agreement, Lewis’s family expressed disappointment, emphasizing that no amount of legal proceedings could bring their loved one back. Their attorney articulated a sentiment of ambivalence toward the situation, questioning whether true justice was served in light of the young man’s tragic death.