“He took my son’s life for no reason. He fled the scene with no help. He never called 9-1-1. He never tried to help my precious son,” Reece’s mother said during a witness impact statement.
“This man is a murderer and a dangerous killer,” she said. “He should be deemed a menace to society.”
Reece’s sister and daughter also told the judge that they were deeply hurt by his death and that their life will never be the same without him. The family described Reece as a caring man who would go out of his way to help others.
Judge Mary Montgomery sentenced Dennis to a mandatory 15 years to life in prison on a murder charge and an additional year in prison for tampering with evidence. It was the maximum he could get under Ohio law.
Authorities accused Dennis of killing Reece on July 25, 2020. Dennis was in a car that struck Reece’s car in the parking lot of Sugar’s Restaurant and Lounge, according to court documents, and as Reece approached the driver’s side of the vehicle that hit him he was shot.
Prosecutors said Dennis shot him.
“The defendant fled the scene of the shooting, but was located later that night and was taken into custody,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Dennis was convicted after a jury trial last month. But he was also found not guilty of other charges including murder (proximate result, felonious assault deadly weapon), felonious assault (deadly weapon), having a weapon while under disability (prior drug conviction), and a second tampering with evidence charge during that same trial.
The jury was unable to come to a verdict on other counts.
Dennis, crying, proclaimed innocence before he was sentenced, saying he didn’t know Reece and had no reason to kill him.
“I’m sorry that all this has happened. And I’m sorry that y’all lost your loved ones,” Dennis said. “But I was not the shooter at all. I didn’t even do it. All I did was panic and drove off. That was it.”
Montgomery denied a motion by the defense to acquit Dennis or grant the man a new trial. The defense had argued that the verdicts contradicted each other. The judge said after reviewing case law she believed the verdicts should stand.
About the Authors
