2 Columbus men get prison for unrelated shootings
Two Columbus men are facing prison sentences for unrelated shootings that occurred in 2020.
Nyquan Hall, 26, of South Linden, has been sentenced to an indefinite prison term of 11 years to 16 years for shooting at an SUV, wounding two young children riding in the car. The incident also led to minor injuries to another child passenger and serious injuries to a woman pedestrian.
Hall pleaded guilty on May 17 to one count of felonious assault and one count of attempted murder in connection with the shooting on Oct. 19, 2020 in Italian Village. Franklin County prosecutors dropped other charges.
County Common Pleas Judge Andy Miller sentenced Hall to the amount of time jointly recommended by prosecutors and Hall’s defense attorney, Mark Collins. Hall has more than two years and six months of jail time credit toward time served.
Dillon Minnifield, then 28, was driving a black SUV Durango with a relative’s three young children inside on the afternoon of Oct. 19, 2020.
Minnifield previously told The Dispatch he stopped at Brickel Street to pick up something from an acquaintance.
When Minnifield got out of the vehicle, he said he came under gunfire. He jumped back into the vehicle and began backing up, striking and critically injuring a woman.
Minnifield tried to drive away from the gunman, but crashed into a street sign and the SUV overturned onto its side.
Court records indicate there were at least 25 bullet holes in the windshield of the Durango by the end of the incident.
A 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl riding in the SUV were both shot. Minnifield was also grazed by a bullet and a 5-year-old boy passenger sustained minor injuries when Minnifield crashed the SUV.
Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor John P. Gripshover said the little girl still has a bullet in her hip that doctors cannot remove without risking the girl’s life. Her mother says the girl still has mobility issues, according to Gripshover.
“This was a horrible incident and way too common in our community at this point,” Gripshover said.
Collins said the resolution to the case was fair.
“Hopefully this will allow the family to move forward,” Collins said.
Man sentenced for deadly shootout, fellow inmate's death
Another man, 23-year-old Varmunyah Dunor, of the Near East Side, has been sentenced to prison in multiple cases — two of which involved deaths.
Dunor pleaded guilty on Thursday, May 18, to involuntary manslaughter in two cases.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page sentenced Dunor in total to an indefinite prison term of 15 years to 20 years as jointly recommended by prosecutors and Dunor’s defense attorneys.
Dunor admitted to his role in a shootout that left one man dead and another critically injured on April 17, 2020. Court records indicate the shooting stemmed from a drug deal involving marijuana that went south and all three men involved fired weapons. Jarrin Hickman, then 28, died and Quincy Yelder, 19, was shot in the head but survived.
Dunor also admitted to his part in the 2021 death of another inmate at the Franklin County jail, 35-year-old Dustin Ray of Reynoldsburg.
A Franklin County Sheriff’s investigation determined Dunor and Royalle Mosely assaulted Ray on Nov. 28, 2021. Ray was found later in his bunk unconscious and transported to Ohiohealth Grant Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with a head injury. He never regained consciousness and died on Dec. 2, 2021.
Mark Hunt, one of Dunor’s defense attorneys, told The Dispatch that Ray allegedly approached Dunor aggressively and Dunor threw one punch during the altercation. Dunor was not trying to kill Ray, Hunt said.
Mosely, 25, is charged with murder in connection with Ray’s death, and is scheduled to appear in court next on July 27.
Dunor also pleaded guilty Thursday in two other cases. He pleaded in one case to a robbery charge and in the other case to having a weapon under disability (possessing a gun illegally as a convicted felon). jlaird@dispatch.com @Lairdwrites