Three arrested in slaying of Newark man
FATAL SHOOTING
NEWARK — Three people are facing murder charges, and officers were searching for a fourth suspect Monday in connection with a weekend shooting death in Newark.
Tyler Ocasio, 22, and Dustin Lehoe, 21, both of Newark, were arrested Sunday in Columbus and were charged in Licking County Common Pleas Court with aggravated murder. Bond was set at $1 million for each.
Assistant Licking County Prosecutor Paula Sawyer said the counts could carry death sentences, though prosecutors were still gathering information to determine whether to pursue that course.
A third individual, Jaden Osborn, 15, was taken into custody by Newark police detectives at about 1 a.m. Sunday at his residence in Heath. He faces juvenile counts of complicity to murder and aggravated murder and complicity to aggravated robbery.
Authorities say all three were involved in an early morning shooting on Saturday on Cherry Street in Newark, where officers responding to reports of a shooting found David Barcus, 48, critically wounded.
Barcus, who was shot in his bed, was transported to Licking Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to documents.
According to court documents, Lehoe, Ocasio, Osborn and one other juvenile broke into the residence to steal money and drugs and fired shots. Video surveillance showed the four entering the home, then running out about a minute later.
According to documents, a handgun was found in the Columbus house where Lehoe and Ocasio were arrested. Authorities have not identified which individual fired the shot that killed Barcus.
The fourth suspect still being sought has not been identified by authorities. The three arrested suspects all have lengthy criminal records.
Ocasio was already on probation after pleading guilty in January 2017 to a felony count of attempted robbery. His juvenile record includes unruly conduct, criminal damaging, resisting arrest, petty theft and assault, according to documents.
Lehoe’s juvenile record includes charges of assault, criminal damaging, public indecency and breaking and entering.
Osborn was charged with public indecency and gross sexual imposition and spent time in a mandatory treatment facility after violating his probation terms. In May, he also was charged with unauthorized use of his mother’s minivan. He was just released from detention in December.
Osborn made an initial appearance Monday afternoon before Judge Robert H. Hoover in juvenile court. Prosecutors have asked that he be tried as an adult, noting in court documents that he “is not amenable to care or rehabilitation within the juvenile system.”
Ocasio and Lehoe were being held in the Licking County Jail. Osborn was in custody at the MultiCounty Juvenile Detention Center in Lancaster, according to documents.