COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A man accused of shooting at employees inside a Columbus White Castle has pled guilty to five charges, including murder.
Mark Reynolds pled guilty to multiple felonies Wednesday for the shooting death of a White Castle manager, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office announced Thursday. On Oct. 23, 2020, prosecutors said Reynolds spent an hour shooting at several people on Columbus’ west side before he entered the White Castle on West Broad Street and North Wilson Road and shot at several employees behind the counter, hitting a 57-year-old employee in the wrist and 30-year-old Amanda Rush in the head. Rush, the store manager, died at the scene.
When Reynolds was charged a week later, prosecutors said after shooting at the employees, he then fled to a PNC Bank on West Broad Street, fired shots at glass doors, then fled to a Certified gas station down the street, where he shot and struck the passenger’s door of a car traveling down Broad Street.
Reynolds pled guilty to murder, kidnapping, two counts of felonious assault and breaking and entering, according to the prosecutor’s office. He was sentenced to 21 years to life, per the prosecution and defense’s joint recommendation. Reynolds faces more than the state’s 15-to-life sentence for murder because he used a firearm during the crimes.
Reynolds was originally indicted on 12 charges, including six counts of felonious assault and one count of aggravated robbery, according to a copy of his indictment. In April 2021, the court ordered Reynold to undergo a competency examination before he could stand trial.