Gunman gets life in prison with no parole for carryout slaying
A 23- year- old Columbus man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years for killing one man and paralyzing another in an East Side carryout shooting, then later getting into a shootout with police officers who cornered him in a hotel room.
Deanthoni Truss, of the South Side, was convicted last month by a Franklin County jury of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted murder, five counts of felonious assault and multiple gun specifications.
Common Pleas Judge Laurel Beatty Blunt sentenced him to 20 years to life for the aggravated murder and added 20 years for the gun specifications. She imposed 10 years for each of the other offenses, but said that those penalties would run concurrently with the rest of the sentence. The judge could have sentenced him to life without parole for the slaying.
The courtroom was packed with supporters for Truss and the victims, several of whom had to be separated by deputies when they began shouting at one another in the hallway after the hearing.
Jurors saw surveillance video of Truss entering the Quick Stop Convenience Store in the 2700 block of East 5th Avenue at about noon on June 8, 2016. He immediately shot Tommie Brown before turning the gun on Kris Pace and William Brown Jr., who were on the floor in the midst of a fight. Tommie Brown died of a bullet to the chest. Pace was left a quadriplegic and William Brown Jr., who is not related to Tommie, was struck in his shoulder.
Nearly five months after the shooting, the U. S. Marshals Service tracked Truss to a room on the second floor of the Sheraton Suites hotel on Hutchinson Avenue on the Far North Side. When law- enforcement officers announced their presence and tried to enter the room, Truss fired about three dozen rounds at them with two guns. Officers fired a combined 22 rounds in response. No one was injured, and Truss eventually was taken into custody with the help of a stun gun.
Assistant Prosecutor James Lowe told the judge that life without parole was appropriate but asked for a sentence that would prevent Truss from seeking parole for 50 to 60 years.
Truss did not testify at his trial, but defense attorney Frederick Benton suggested to the jury that Truss was defending himself against Tommie Brown, who also was carrying a gun, and shot Pace to protect his friend William Brown, who was on the losing end of an assault.