Man gets at least 23 years for fatal home invasion

NEWARK — One of four people charged in the January shooting death of a Newark man will spend at least 23 years in prison after formally admitting his involvement Thursday in Licking County Common Pleas Court.

Dustin Lehoe, 22, of Columbus, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary in the case and won’t be eligible for parole for more than two decades under the life sentence handed down by Judge Thomas Marcelain.

Lehoe was charged with Tyler Ocasio, 20, of Newark, Dylan Warren, 16, of Lewis Center, and Jaden Osborn, 15, of Heath, in the Jan. 20 killing of David Barcus, 48. All four defendants have lengthy criminal records.

According to court documents, they broke into a Cherry Street residence to steal money and drugs. Video surveillance showed the four entering the home and then running out about a minute later. Lehoe

According to documents, Ocasio and Lehoe went into the basement, where Barcus was asleep, while Warren and Osborn remained upstairs.

Assistant Prosecutor Paula Sawyers said the crime was planned by the four in advance, and Barcus was shot on his cot.

“The reports are that they immediately went up to him, pointed the gun at him, and they pulled the trigger,” she said. “There was no, ‘Don’t move, don’t do anything. ...’ This was very much pre-calculated.”

Prosecutors said Lehoe initially told investigators that Ocasio had the gun and fired the shot that killed Barcus. He later recanted, however.

“For what it’s worth, I’d like to apologize to the family,” Lehoe said before his sentence was announced. “I was definitely under the influence, and I wouldn’t have done this if the situation would have been different.”

Ocasio is scheduled to go to trial in late October. Warren, initially charged as a juvenile, has since been indicted as an adult, while Osborn’s case is still being considered in juvenile court.

Friends and members of Barcus’ family spoke Thursday prior to Lehoe’s sentencing; several broke down in tears. A woman who was upstairs in the home where Barcus was killed described the victim’s final bloody moments and the nightmare and fear she lives with.

Barcus’ brother told the court that Lehoe should never be allowed to see “light again from the outside world.”

Lehoe’s sentence includes life with the possibility of parole in 20 years, plus three mandatory years for the gun specification, to be served consecutively.