By Melissa A. Schiffel
Contributing columnist
2022 was a busy and eventful year for the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office. Between our two criminal divisions, adult felony and juvenile, we had 35 trials. Nineteen of those were jury trials in the adult court system. We also handled 48 appeals in various phases from presenting oral argument in the Court of Appeals and Ohio Supreme Court, to writing the initial reply briefs. Our civil division was busy, too, but it is hard to quantify their work because so much of it involves a quick phone call to talk a client through a situation or attending a meeting after hours for township client. There were nearly 1,500 tasks assigned to our civil division by our clients through our online case management system.
Don’t forget our community events, too. I don’t think there is a month that goes by without multiple public appearances by myself and/or our office to promote the good work of the Prosecutor’s Office and to join in prevention and education efforts of our community partner efforts. To say I am proud of my staff would be an understatement. They are each dedicated public servants who do their best every day for our citizens.
Here is our brief review of some of our more notable criminal cases from 2022. Our first was a jury trial involving a young man named Dajae May. He, along with others, robbed several Verizon wireless stores in the central Ohio area, both in and out of our jurisdiction, holding the store employees at gunpoint. Delaware County was the first to take him to trial and put our proverbial money where our mouth is. Our efforts produced a conviction at trial, and May was sentenced to 14-19.5 years in prison.
Similarly, a few weeks later D’Vontae Wright was also convicted of robbery and failure to comply (think running from the cops) after a jury trial. His crime spree landed him a sentence of 11-15 years in prison.
July brought a guilty verdict and sentencing of Laylah Bordeau for the March 2021 crash that killed a Powell family of four. Bordeau was convicted of aggravated vehicular homicide after driving her vehicle into oncoming traffic on I-71 and crashing into the family’s RAV-4. All passengers in the RAV-4 were killed. Bordeau had more than 92 nanograms per milliliter of fentanyl in her blood at the time of the crash and was sentenced to 32-36 years in prison.
In October, Muata Fisher, a former Ohio Department of Corrections employee, was found guilty of multiple counts of rape and gross sexual imposition of a minor. Fisher abused his victim for over three years, was ultimately sentenced in November to life in prison (five life sentences), without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 80 years to life.
Finally, in December, Jonathon Myers, our highway shooter, was sentenced to 25-31.5 years in prison for attempting to kill civilians and law enforcement on interstate 71 in March of last year. Myers began his crime spree in Franklin County when he fired at another motorist after the vehicle he was traveling in crashed into another car and took off. Myers then continued his shooting rampage in Delaware County on I-71 where he first began shooting at southbound travelers, and then eventually at law enforcement who descended on the scene to protect the community. Myers’ bullets were inches from harming or killing innocent civilians and law enforcement.
2023 seems to be off and running (I can’t believe it is March already), and our office has already had four trials (may be more by the time this goes to print). We also welcomed staff attorney Sayje Brown as our new special victims prosecutor, and she brings more than 10 years of experience to our office. I am most excited though about our first ever training for law enforcement that we are hosting at the end of March.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to report it was a resounding success in my April column. Until next time, may your March be lucky!
Melissa A. Schiffel is the Delaware County prosecutor.
