Three arrested in the random beating death of Donnie Smith, Columbus, Ohio father outside of Kroger store. Suspects waited and followed victim before mercilessly beating him.
Laughing and enjoying themselves. But not anymore. Ohio authorities have arrested three teens accused of ‘viciously’ beating a Columbus father of two to death outside a Kroger store following a chance random encounter earlier this month.
Columbus police say the incident happened at 7 p.m. on Dec. 6, when the three young men allegedly engaged the victim inside a Kroger grocery store.
Charged with the beating murder of Donnie Smith, 53, were Jamarion Fredrae Evans-Bennett, 19, Dionta Davon Hughes, 18, and Jayden Agee, 17. The trio was arrested Wednesday, December 20, WCMH reported.
Suspected waited and followed random victim
At the time of the incident, the suspects were asked to leave by security after getting into an altercation with patrons inside the store, only for the suspects to wait for the victim outside, where matters escalated, police said.
Security cameras showed the trio following Smith as he left the grocery store, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
‘Once outside, a physical altercation ensued between three males and the victim,’ charging documents seen by WSXY-TV reported.
Police allege the group stomping, kicking, and punching Smith until he was unconscious and left bleeding from the head.
A witness told police how the group was seen ‘laughing and enjoying themselves’ while carrying out the vicious assault.
The attack only came to an end when a witness with a firearm intervened and told the three to stop.
‘trying to pick on whoever they could.’
The father was left unconscious and bleeding from the head following the beating at the hands of the three teens.
Smith was taken to a hospital in critical condition, where he later died.
One of the friends who was with Smith at the time told WSXY the group was ‘trying to pick on whoever they could.’
Charging documents stated Smith being ‘unconscious and bleeding from the head due to the beating’ and that the group was ‘laughing and enjoying themselves’ while assaulting him.
Smith died two weeks after the assault, relatives stated.
The suspects left the scene in a red vehicle, cops said.
‘random act of violence.’
Speaking about Smith, Nicole Evans described her partner of 20 years as ‘an amazing person’.
The couple shared a 15-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.
‘He was a great father. He loved his kids. They were his world,’ she said.
Evans said Smith’s killing was a ‘random act of violence.’
‘They just grabbed him and beat him to death,’ she said to ABC 6. ‘It’s sickening. I don’t know how anyone could do that to a human being.’
18-year-old Hughes and 19-year-old Evans-Bennett each have a history with the juvenile system, with both holding records in the last two years.
Photos of Hughes and Evans-Bennett were released, but not Agee since he is a minor.
Hughes and Evans-Bennett are locked up in the Franklin County jail on $1 million bond. The juvenile is in the county detention center while a decision is made over whether to charge him as an adult.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Columbus police.
Family and friends have created a GoFundMe to help the children going forward.
