Jerome Steward, 26, was shot and killed on July 19, 2020, on the South Side of Columbus. Officers found him in the 400 block of Southwood Avenue just east of Parsons Avenue; they applied a tourniquet and performed CPR until medics arrived, but Steward later died at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center.

Witnesses reported the shooter fled in a silver or gray four-door car with Pennsylvania plates. Police issued an arrest warrant for 20-year-old Lason Booker; he was arrested and charged after investigators developed witness statements and other evidence. Court testimony described an ongoing dispute between Steward and Booker. On the day of the shooting Booker allegedly drove by Steward, who was sitting on his uncle’s porch, then returned and fired. Booker claimed Steward had flashed a gun, but no gun was recovered and witnesses contradicted that account. Booker was sentenced to an indefinite prison term of 17 years to 22 1/2 years for voluntary manslaughter.

Steward’s parents, Robin Steward and Jerry Perkins, and his siblings described the killing as senseless and continue to grieve.