By Bruce Cadwallader
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A 22-year-old North Side man faced a tough judge yesterday when he was sentenced for killing a man during a home-invasion robbery.
“The worst part of my job is seeing someone as young as you basically throwing his life away,” Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard S. Sheward said.
“The sad part is that at the ripe, old age of 22, your life is over. I doubt that you even realize that.”
On Tuesday, Javon Redman, formerly of E. Blake Avenue, was found guilty of murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, kidnapping and having a weapon as a convicted felon.
Sheward, a 66-year-old judge in his last term on the bench, sentenced Redman to 41 years to life in prison for the crimes.
Columbus police said Alu Jeter, 28, who was known to keep drugs in his apartment at 609 S. Seymour Ave., was set up for a robbery. On June 21, 2007, two girls stopped by and distracted Jeter while four men waited for a signal, Assistant Prosecutors Scott Kirschman and Jeffrey Mussman said.
One of the girls was having sex with Jeter when the other unlocked the door and let three of the men inside. Jeter was shot in the chest after showing the robbers where he kept his stash of cocaine.
Redman’s co-defendants said he pulled the trigger during a scuffle with Jeter and Redman’s cousin, Aaron Manns.
Redman has prior convictions for aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery and had a similar case pending in court when he was arrested.
“If there is any silver lining, you won’t be shot in prison,” Sheward told Redman. “Living with this kind of activity (outside prison), you would probably, most likely, end up being shot by the age of 30.”
Defense attorney Jeffrey Basnett said no forensic evidence linked Redman to the crime.
Manns and two others will be sentenced this month for their roles in the robbery.
Copyright 2010 The Columbus Dispatch