COLUMBUS, Ohio — Joshua Bays, 46, pleaded guilty Oct. 7 and was sentenced to 26 to 31½ years in prison for the fatal shooting of Thomas Smith, 56, at a bus stop in the Franklinton neighborhood, the Franklin County Prosecutor’s office announced.
Smith was shot in the face Aug. 14 near the intersection of West Broad Street and Wisconsin Avenue. He died three days later. Smith’s wife was with him during the shooting and later helped police build the case. Witnesses described a man fleeing the scene on a bicycle, and surveillance video captured the suspect. Smith’s wife identified Bays from a photo array.
Bays was initially charged with murder, having a weapon while under disability and unlawful use of a weapon as a career criminal. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. Prosecutors said Bays admitted shooting Smith and then trying to dispose of the firearm.
The sentence carries repeat-offender, violent-offender and firearm specifications. Bays also received a consecutive 12-month sentence in a separate escape case. He will not be eligible for parole until he is 72 years old.
The Aug. 14 shooting drew attention to safety at transit stops on the city’s west side. Franklinton, one of Columbus’s oldest neighborhoods, has seen years of reinvestment alongside persistent concerns about street-level violence.
Prosecutors credited Smith’s wife and civilian witnesses for helping investigators close the case. Bays, described by prosecutors as a career criminal, will serve his sentences in state prison.
