Man sentenced to 20 years in fatal hammer attack

A man who admitted beating an acquaintance to death with a hammer in a Reynoldsburg home five months ago was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison.

Joel Smalls, 52, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery in the slaying of 46-year-old David A. Vollette.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Cocroft imposed the sentence, which was recommended by prosecuting and defense attorneys as part of a plea agreement.

Reynoldsburg police officers found Vollette dead in bed at his home in the 7700 block of Pembrock Drive on June 27 after his mother called police to say he had not shown up for work. Investigators determined that he died the previous day from a massive head wound. They found a hammer in the home that appeared to be the murder weapon.

The state crime lab discovered Smalls’ DNA on the handle of the hammer.

Assistant Prosecutor Zachary Imwalle said Smalls’ girlfriend told investigators that he had confessed to her, saying he had killed a friend with a hammer. A search of Smalls’ home uncovered Vollette’s driver’s license and Social Security card and other items that belonged to the victim.

When police interviewed Smalls, he initially said he took the victim’s car and other property after finding him dead. Vollette’s car was found in Columbus on East Livingston Avenue near South Champion Avenue.

Smalls is not eligible for early release from prison because of convictions for aggravated robbery in Stark County in 1993 and 1998.