Former Columbus officer pleads guilty to reckless homicide in Black man’s 2022 death

A former police officer in Ohio, Ricky Anderson, has pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the 2022 death of a Black man, Donovan Lewis, according to prosecutors. Anderson, who was a K-9 officer with the Columbus Police Department, entered an Alford plea, admitting there was sufficient evidence for a conviction without admitting guilt. In return for his guilty plea, the state dropped a murder charge, as reported by the Franklin County prosecuting attorney.

On August 2022, officers were called to Lewis' apartment around 2 a.m. to arrest him on multiple warrants, including domestic violence, assault, and felony improper handling of a firearm. Anderson's attorneys claimed that trial evidence would demonstrate he acted within the bounds of self-defense. Lewis' family has a pending civil lawsuit against the former officer, alleging that bodycam footage shows Anderson fired within a second of entering the bedroom where Lewis was sleeping.

The U.S. Justice Department reviewed Columbus Police Department practices in 2021, following a series of fatal police shootings of Black individuals and the city's response to 2020 racial injustice protests. Anderson is set to be sentenced at a later date, with possible penalties ranging from probation to up to three years in prison, as per defense attorney Mark Collins.