Two sentenced on lesser charges for 2019 gang-related killing in Hamilton

Nearly five years after 18-year-old Londale Harvey was fatally wounded in a shooting in Hamilton, two men admitted to their role in his killing and were ordered to spend over a decade behind bars.

Tai'je Goolsby, 30, and Damone Davis, 25, were sentenced on Dec. 19 by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Oster Jr., court records show.

Goolsby received a total of 15 years, while Davis was sentenced to a 16-year prison term.

Court records show both men received additional time for participating in a criminal gang when they opened fire on Harvey, whom police found with gunshot wounds near Pleasant and Fairview avenues in January 2019.

Harvey was taken to an area hospital where he died.

Goolsby and Davis were indicted in June on counts including murder, felonious assault, illegal possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises.

Court records show they each pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a firearm and a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter. As part of their plea bargains, prosecutors agreed to dismiss four other counts each man was facing.

Goolsby was granted credit for 191 days of time served.

While Davis didn't receive any such credit, his sentence will run concurrently with a five-year federal prison term he received in April for possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

In an affidavit filed in that case, a special agent with the FBI identified Davis as a leader of the "RU Gang," a criminal organization that serves as a major drug supplier in Butler County and is responsible for numerous gang-related killings.

Multiple law enforcement agencies began jointly investigating the RU Gang in late 2016.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Pair pleads, sentenced on lesser charges in 2019 gang-related killing