Man gets life in murder of marijuana dealer

A 21-year-old man who fatally shot a marijuana dealer during a robbery on an East Side street was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with no chance of parole for 34 years.

Janei M. Brightwell of the Near East Side was convicted in February by a Franklin County jury of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault and attempted murder, all with gun specifications, in the Dec. 17, 2016, death of 19-yearold Shai-Kee Shikary Ray Allen.

Testimony revealed that Allen was shot once in the chest about 9:30 p.m. as he sat in the passenger seat of a car parked at the curb outside a duplex in the 2700 block of East 6th Avenue. The driver of the car, Tremaine Manns Jr., sped away and took Allen to University Hospital East. Brightwell Allen died minutes after arriving at the hospital.

Because Brightwell continued to fire shots as the car drove off, he was convicted of attempting to murder the driver.

“All over a $50 bag of weed,” said Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Frye, who imposed the sentence. The judge could have sentenced him to life without parole.

According to trial testimony, Brightwell had been partying at the duplex and summoned Allen to the address through a text seeking to purchase marijuana. Ciree R. Matthews, who lived in the duplex, approached the car after it arrived, but decided not to buy the marijuana and was walking back to his residence when the shooting occurred.

Matthews, 22, pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for allowing Brightwell to hide overnight in the duplex. He was placed on probation for three years as part of an agreement to testify at Brightwell’s trial.

Defense attorney Thomas Charlesworth asked Frye to impose the minimum sentence of 26 years to life, citing his client’s youth and a traumatic upbringing.

Prosecutors asked for a harsher sentence, pointing out that Brightwell didn’t shoot until Allen had handed over the marijuana.

“It’s totally unfathomable why he did this,” Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Geraghty said.

Brightwell declined to make a statement in court.