Columbus man sentenced to 72 years in prison for 2018 murder of pregnant woman, her fiancé
A Columbus man has been sentenced to 72 years in prison after his conviction by a Franklin County jury for the 2018 murders of a pregnant woman and her fiancé.
Mario Wade, 23, was convicted by a Franklin County jury last Friday in the 2018 murders of Keith Williams, 23, and Marlazia Jones-Mattox, 21, both of the Hilltop neighborhood. Immediately following the guilty verdict, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Julie Lynch sentenced Wade to a total 72 years to life in prison.
Wade, whom Franklin County prosecutors say was a member of a West Side gang, was sentenced to 30 years for each of the two counts of aggravated murder plus six years on firearm specifications, three years on gang specifications and three years on having weapons while under disability.
At Wade's request, Lynch appointed an attorney to represent him in appealing the case.
On Jan. 1, 2018, Wade, Christian Dillion, 19; and a 15-year-old, identified by law enforcement and prosecutors as members of the Hilltop Hot Boys gang, went into a residence at 670 S. Hague Ave. in the Hilltop neighborhood to rob Williams, The Dispatch previously reported.
During the robbery attempt, Williams shot and critically wounded the 15-year-old, court records show. Wade then shot Williams nine times.
As Wade and Dillion were leaving the residence, they heard Jones-Mattox, who was nine months pregnant, screaming as she struggled to exit the house through a window. Dillion shot her five times in the back from close range, prosecutors said.
Williams and Jones-Mattox, who were engaged, died of their gunshot wounds.
Jones-Mattox was rushed to the former Mount Carmel West Hospital, where doctors delivered her child. The baby was without oxygen for more than 45 minutes, causing cerebral palsy, prosecutors said.
After the shooting, Wade and Dillion drove around Columbus, dumping two guns in two separate sewers and one gun in Big Walnut Creek, prosecutors said. Police recovered all three weapons, and the Columbus Division of Police crime lab linked all three guns to the murders of Williams and Jones-Mattox.
Wade did not speak at his sentencing. His defense attorney, Robert Krapenc, said the situation is tragic and his heart goes out to the family of the victims. Krapenc also said the verdict was not surprising and pointed to the conviction of Wade's codefendant.
Dillon was convicted on similar charges in November 2021 and was given 78 years to life. Prosecutors say the 15-year-old is now paralyzed in three limbs.
On Jan. 22, 2018, Columbus police detectives also arrested 18-year-old Alianna Royster, 18, of Grove City, and charged her with aggravated robbery in connection with the case.
Royster told detectives that she originally drove the three males to the Hague Avenue house so they could buy narcotics. All three were armed, she told police, and talk turned to robbing Williams of narcotics and cash
Royster pleaded guilty in 2018 and is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 6, court records show.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man gets 72 years for slaying of pregnant woman, her fiancé
