Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Columbus men get 20 years for summer shooting
Two Columbus area men received 20-year prison sentences Tuesday in connection to a shooting last summer.
Rodney Bebbs and Kendre Jenkis both pleaded guilty to felonies including aggravated burglary, felonious assault and having weapons under disability.
Bebbs and Jenkis, along with Aaron Sheets of Lancaster, targeted a known drug house in Zanesville to rob.
Detectives Chris Andrews and John McElhaney of the Zanesville Police Department learned that the defendants chose the house on Adams Street after Bebbs and Kayla Moore, while selling drugs at another location, asked local drug users where they could find a good place to rob.
After passing up on another location that was too busy with drug activity, the offenders settled on a trap house at 233 Adams St.
A trap house is a property, typically owned or leased by a third party, where drug dealers run their operations. Normally, the homeowner is paid in some manner for use of their house.
Bebbs, Jenkis and Sheets made their way into the trap house with guns drawn after overpowering the doorman selling drugs on the back porch.
A doorman is a drug trafficker who conducts small, hand-to-hand transactions and controls access to trap houses.
In search of cash and drugs belonging to a woman upstairs, the defendants were met by a man who lived in the home and his dog.
Jenkis fired his gun and shot the man in the neck before the three fled the house.
The victim survived his injuries.
As detectives investigated the robbery, they were led to another incident weeks later on Woodlawn Avenue at another drug house involving the same group of offenders.
That time, Jenkis drew his gun on a neighbor who told them to stop selling drugs out of 533 Woodlawn Ave. in the middle of the day.
Police officers and detectives who responded to the scene recovered Jenkis’ gun, which was later linked to the shooting on Adams Street.
“As is typical in almost all home invasions, the circumstances surrounded the narcotics trade,” stated Assistant Prosecutor John Litle, who handled the case. “Additionally, some criminals from Columbus don’t understand that communities like Zanesville have higher standards. Those criminals make a critical life error by bringing their misbehavior to our county. Our Muskingum County Judges have earned and deserve their reputation for handing out serious criminal consequences like the four decades of prison handed out today.”
Aaron Sheets, Kayla Moore and other participants will be sentenced at a later time.
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