David Johnson: Ohio murder suspect mistakenly freed from prison kills man, 21, before being re-arrested
FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO: An Ohio father who is accused of two murders, including the drug-related death of his baby son, allegedly participated in a second murder after being mistakenly freed from jail late last month, according to reports. David A Johnson III, shot Andrew Combs, 21 dead on December 13 at a Sunoco gas station after getting involved in a robbery attempt just days after release.
David was released from the Franklin County Jail on Nov, 29 after a county courts staffer accidentally made an error while filing a form, The Columbus Dispatch reported. He was re-arrested on Monday night, police said as per the report. In Franklin County Common Pleas Court, he is accused of murder, felony assault, and possession of a firearm while inebriated.
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In the earlier cases, Johnson was charged by Columbus police with killing 26-year-old Derek Ponder and injuring his mother on April 28, 2021, at South Harris Avenue residence. He was placed on house arrest later that year, but a judge revoked that last month after Johnson was charged and jailed in the death of his year-old son as per FOX news. On Nov 18, Johnson's 1-year-old son died when he ingested drugs. Large quantities of drugs were found in Johnson's home, according to court documents as seen by Dispatch.
After learning about the error, Johnson’s attorney arranged for him to turn himself in but he never did and instead killed one more. Officers administered aid to Combs before Columbus EMT arrived. He was transported to a hospital and was pronounced dead on Dec 14. Johnson then remained at large until he was arrested on Monday, 19 December. Johnson as per a report was first accused of drug possession and endangering children. Johnson was charged with involuntary manslaughter after an autopsy revealed that fentanyl was present in his son's system. On November 21, Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Jaiza Page revoked Johnson's bail in the murder case. But on November 29, Johnson was able to leave custody due to a paperwork error.
Franklin County Clerk of Courts Maryellen O'Shaughnessy's office and the court administration as per reports have said they will discuss possible safeguards to prevent something like this from happening in the future and whether to reprimand or discipline its staff is up to the judge. Johnson was released from jail because of "human error," a Franklin County judge said. "As soon as I was alerted that he had been released, which I was told on December 2, I immediately requested that a warrant for his arrest be issued and that has been done," Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page said, according to WSYX.