COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A man faces life in prison after being convicted of murder and other felonies in the death of a 15-year-old girl’s unborn baby in 2020.
A jury found 27-year-old Christopher Payne guilty of a dozen felonies for a drive-by shooting in northeast Columbus that injured 15-year-old Ma’Tiya Bruster-Lewis and killed her baby boy, Asier Lewis. At trial, the driver of the car testified that Payne shot Bruster-Lewis from the backseat, according to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.
On Aug. 23, 2020, Bruster-Lewis, now 18, was walking with an acquaintance near Joyce and Denune avenues in East Linden. As a car drove past, a passenger shot at the acquaintance but ended up hitting Bruster-Lewis in the stomach.
Bruster-Lewis was 35 weeks pregnant and underwent an emergency cesarean section, but her son died at the hospital.
Payne was arrested in October 2020 for Bruster-Lewis’ assault and her son’s death. On Thursday, a jury convicted him of the following charges:
- Three counts of murder
- One count of involuntary manslaughter
- Two counts of attempted murder
- Two counts of felonious assault
- Two counts of having a weapon under disability
- One count of carrying a concealed weapon
- One count of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle
Payne will be sentenced May 5 and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison with an opportunity for parole after 26 years.
