A Columbus woman drove over another woman holding a gun. Is it self-defense or murder?

Jordan Laird, The Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·4 min read
Bria K. Henslee, 23, exits the courtroom Tuesday for the lunch break in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, where she is on trial for murder in the death of 25-year-old Makaela Ellis on April 9, 2021. According to Columbus police, Henslee ran over Ellis with her car in the parking lot of a Kentucky Fried Chicken/ Long John Silver's restaurant on Harrisburg Pike on the Southwest Side. Henslee's defense attorneys said during opening arguments on Tuesday that Henslee was acting in self-defense because Ellis was pointing a gun at Henslee.

Was a Columbus woman acting in self-defense or committing murder in 2021 when she drove into another woman holding a gun, pinning her against the wall of a fast-food restaurant?

That is a key question before a Franklin County Common Pleas Court jury this week.

Bria K. Henslee, 23, of the Hilltop neighborhood, is on trial for two counts of murder in connection with the death of 25-year-old Makaela Ellis on the evening of April 9, 2021. The confrontation over a fender bender that turned fatal happened outside a combination Kentucky Fried Chicken and Long John Silver’s on Columbus' Southwest Side,

Henslee is also charged with one count of assault for kicking a Columbus police officer in the stomach later that evening when police found Henslee at home, according to prosecutors,

The facts in this case are ugly, Franklin County Assistant Prosecutor Jeff Zezech said Tuesday during opening arguments.

Zezech said Ellis and several others confronted Henslee after Henslee hit a parked vehicle nearby and nearly clipped another one.

“The ugly truth we’re going to start off with is that at the time that (Ellis) was crushed into the side of a building by Bria Henslee, (Ellis) had a gun. We’re owning that. She had a gun,” Zezech said. “(Ellis) also had her back turned and was trying to get away" when Henslee hit her with the vehicle.

Bria K. Henslee, 23, right, enters a Franklin County Common Pleas courtroom on Tuesday for her murder trial in the death of 25-year-old Makaela Ellis on April 9, 2021. According to Columbus police, Henslee ran over Ellis with her car in the parking lot of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on Harrisburg Pike on the Southwest Side. Sam Shamansky, left, one of Henslee's defense attorneys, said during opening arguments on Tuesday that Ellis was pointing a gun at Henslee, who acted in self-defense.

One of Henslee’s defense attorneys, Sam Shamansky, said during opening arguments that Henslee was acting in self-defense. He said two different witnesses told police they saw Ellis point her gun at Henslee.

The confrontation was captured on a surveillance camera. The video is grainy, low-definition and from across the street. Shamansky showed the video during opening arguments and said it shows Ellis pointed the gun at Henslee. Prosecutors disagree that's what the fuzzy video shows.

“The truth stays the same,” Shamansky said.

Past reporting: Woman charged with murder after allegedly running over another woman at restaurant

The case

Columbus police responded at 6:52 p.m. on April 9, 2021 to a report of a shooting at the KFC and Long John Silver’s at 1414 Harrisburg Pike. The shooting came after Ellis was hit, Zezech said.

The confrontation involved Henslee, Ellis, at least three other people, two guns and multiple vehicles.

The KFC and Long John Silver’s are next to a strip mall, which is next to a Burger King.Zezech said Tuesday that Henslee was driving in the parking lot of the strip mall when she hit a parked vehicle and then nearly clipped a van that Ellis, Alex Mulligan and Kaitlin Ross were getting into by the Burger King.

The first vehicle Henslee hit belonged to an employee of a barber shop at the strip mall and Ellis knew them, Zezech said.

More on murder trials: Columbus man acquitted of murder after what judge said was not credible witness testimony

Another driver, Cierra Carter, in her Jeep, followed Henslee through the mall parking lot to the KFC’s parking lot, Zezech said.

Carter used the Jeep to block Henslee’s exit, as can be seen on the video. The video shows Henslee got out of her car and kicked Carter’s car door. Henslee then got back in her car and the van pulled up.

Henslee backed her car up a couple of times and then drove forward on the video. Zezech said she gunned it as if to hit the Jeep blocking her or the people in her way.When Ellis and Mulligan got out of the van, they had guns in their hands, Zezech said.

“(Ellis was) holding it by the barrel like a hammer,” Zezech said.

Shamansky said two witnesses interviewed by police said Ellis pointed the gun at Henslee.

Zezech said, “Bria backs her car up a third time, farther this time, then accelerates, aims the car at Makaela, jumps over that curb into the drive-thru and crushes Makaela against the wall of that KFC.”

After Henslee hit Ellis, Mulligan fired six shots from his revolver, according to Zezech, which prompted the shooting report.

Ellis was transported to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 7:25 p.m.

Zezech said Henslee fled the scene. When police found her later at home, Henslee kicked a female police officer in the stomach.

More court news 60 strangulation charges in a month in Franklin County. New Ohio law targets abusers

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus woman on trial for murder for driving over woman with gun