Columbus men sentenced to 20 years for summer shooting

ZANESVILLE − Two Columbus area men received 20-year prison sentences this week in connection to a shooting last summer.

Rodney Bebbs and Kendre Jenkis pleaded to aggravated burglary, felonious assault and having weapons under disability, charges stemming from the attempted robbery of a Zanesville drug house last summer.

They were sentenced by Muskingum County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark Fleegle.

Bebbs and Jenkis, along with Aaron Sheets of Lancaster, targeted a known drug house in Zanesville to rob.

Bebbs and Kayla Moore were selling drugs in the city when they asked a local drug user for a good place to rob, according to a release from the Muskingum County Prosecutor's Office. They initially targeted another house that proved to be too busy, before settling on what the office describes as a trap house, a house where drug dealers run their operations, at 233 Adams St.

Bebbs, Jenkis and Aaron Sheets of Lancaster overpowered a drug dealer outside the house and entered to search for drugs and money. They were met by a man who lived in the house. Jenkis shot the man in the neck and the group fled the house. The victim survived his injuries.

Detectives were able to link Jenkis' gun to the shooting when they responded to an incident some weeks later on Woodlawn Avenue. Jenkis' drew his gun on a neighbor who told the group to stop selling drugs. Zanesville Police Department officers were able to recover the gun following the incident.

“As is typical in almost all home invasions, the circumstances surrounded the narcotics trade,” stated Assistant Prosecutor John Litle, who handled the case. “Additionally, some criminals from Columbus don't understand that communities like Zanesville have higher standards. Those criminals make a critical life error by bringing their misbehavior to our county. Our Muskingum County judges have earned and deserve their reputation for handing out serious criminal consequences like the four decades of prison handed out today.”

Sheets pleaded guilty to one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and one count of aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony. He has not been sentenced yet.

Moore has been arraigned on one count of conspiracy to attempted murder, a first-degree felony. She is being held on $1.5 million bond.