Tavia Copley was a 24-year-old White mother described by her family as loving and devoted to her young son. She worked at a Cracker Barrel in Grove City and was in Columbus on the evening of September 13, 2023 for a pre-birthday get-together at Double D’s Pub on South High Street, two days before her 25th birthday.

Around 11:30 p.m. a physical altercation broke out outside the bar. Joseph Bryan Howard, 19, approached the group and fired a handgun into the crowd. Copley, Howard’s sister Taya Mollette, and a man were struck. Emergency responders arrived to a chaotic scene; Copley was pronounced dead outside the bar at 11:46 p.m. Mollette was taken to Grant Medical Center and later died. The third victim was hospitalized and expected to recover.

Investigators say Howard fled Ohio after the shooting and that he walked over to Copley as she lay on the ground and fired a second time. A Franklin County grand jury later returned an indictment that includes aggravated murder, multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, and felonious assault. Did anyone who was at Double D’s that night or who knew Tavia come forward with information about what sparked the altercation?