Man charged with murder in death of Hilliard man
DELAWARE — A Delaware County judge set a $5 million bond Friday morning for a man charged with murder, in what authorities say was the death of a Hilliard man with a shotgun at point-blank range.
Police say Bryan S. Pemberton, 33, of Delaware, was arrested shortly after the shooting, which occurred just before 7 p.m. Thursday in the 900 block of Stratford Road on Delaware’s south side.
Ali Al Azirjawi, 28, was found dead outside Pemberton’s home. Police say that Al Azirjawi had arrived there to pick up his girlfriend’s daughter, according to a written statement.
During his video arraignment, Pemberton, speaking from the Delaware County jail, told Municipal Court Judge Marianne Hemmeter that he was “not a criminal, not a flight risk” and implied that the shooting was in self-defense.
Hemmeter responded that the “evidence is overwhelming. There’s no question the right person was charged.”
Pemberton, appearing relaxed but seeming to not fully comprehend the gravity of the situation, responded: “I have a little girl and some things that need to be taken care of to get back on track.”
Mark Sleeper, a Delaware County assistant prosecutor, had requested that no bond be set, given Pemberton’s history of domestic violence and the viciousness of the attack.
“Shooting someone at close range with a shotgun, I think makes the intent pretty clear,” Sleeper said.
Sleeper said he knew of no recent incident that might have sparked the attack.
According to the criminal complaint, Al Azirjawi and his fiancée, who has a 7-year-old daughter with Pemberton, had gone to Pemberton’s home on Stratford Road to pick up the girl.
As Al Azirjawi pulled up and opened his car door, Pemberton approached and fired two shots, killing him, police said. The woman and a 1-year-old in the car with her were not hurt.
If convicted, Pemberton could face 15 years to life in prison, plus an additional three years for gun specifications.
Police recommended that he be sent to Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare Hospital in Columbus, based on his comments and actions after the assault.
According to the court, Pemberton was charged in 2011 with domestic violence for slapping the girl’s mother and threatening to kill her. In 2014, he was convicted of aggravated menacing for threatening to slit her throat and “cut out her voice box,” Sleeper told the court. In that case, Pemberton was sentenced to 15 days of jail time and two years of community control. The woman also filed for a civil protection order against him, which was dismissed later that year.
Before this week’s shooting, the most recent homicide in Delaware was in 2011.