More charges in 'execution' killing of teen Brylan Butcher, found dead in Hilltop alley
A man who is already serving time in prison has been charged in what prosecutors said was the "execution" of a teenager found in between trash cans in a Hilltop alley in 2022.
The indictment comes more than two years after the body of 14-year-old Brylan Butcher had been found in an alley behind the 300 block of South Terrace Avenue.
Jaheym Cheeks, who is now 21, is facing charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and murder in Butcher's death, according to an indictment handed up Wednesday by a Franklin County grand jury. Cheeks is currently housed in the Ross Correctional Institution serving a prison sentence for unrelated burglary charges from Richland County.
Cheeks is also facing specifications for being a repeat violent offender because of his prior criminal history. It is not clear when Cheeks will be brought to Franklin County for his first court appearance.
Around 12:20 a.m. on March 5, 2022, video footage from the area of the 300 block of South Terrace Avenue shows a person, believed to be Cheeks, got out of the passenger side of a vehicle. The video showed Cheeks shooting Butcher in the head before getting into the driver's seat.
The other passenger in the vehicle, Justice Vereen, had been charged in January. Vereen has since pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. She is currently scheduled to be sentenced in July, according to court records.
At a recent hearing for Vereen, Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Steven Schott called Butcher's death "an execution of a 14-year-old boy."
Court records show Vereen initially told detectives she knew Cheeks was going to shoot Butcher while the trio were attempting to steal a vehicle. Cheeks was not identified in court records at the time.
Vereen then admitted to taking the gun that was used and putting it in a trash can at a gas station in Tennessee.
Police were able to find the gun and match it through ballistics as the firearm used to shoot Butcher, according to court records.
At a recent hearing for Vereen, Butcher's mother, Opal Butcher, said her son "wouldn't have said anything" and didn't deserve to die. Butcher was on the autism spectrum, she said, and may not have realized what was happening.
Butcher had been a resident of the Abraxas treatment facility in Mansfield but had run away several times from the facility. He had most recently run away from the facility on Feb. 20, 2022, about two weeks before his body was found.
If convicted, Cheeks faces the possibility of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Charges filed in Ohio boy Brylan Butcher's 2022 execution-style death
