The third of three people charged in a 2017 robbery and shooting death has been sentenced, months before one of his co-defendants is set to be released from prison.
Giovanni Harris, now 26, pleaded guilty on May 4, 2026, to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the Oct. 31, 2017, shooting death of 26-year-old DeAngelo Smith.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Sheryl Munson sentenced Harris on May 11 to 10 years in prison.
Harris will receive credit for nearly four years he has already spent in custody while his case was pending.
Harris was 17 at the time of the shooting and originally charged as a juvenile. After his case was bound over to Common Pleas Court in 2021, Harris underwent multiple competency evaluations and courses of treatment to become eligible to stand trial.
According to court records and The Dispatch’s previous reporting, Smith had been trying to get away from a robbery attempt when he was shot inside a car in a Southeast Side apartment complex parking lot. Smith’s car struck a garbage can and a tree and he was found inside, mortally wounded.
Two other people were also charged in connection to Smith’s death.
Marshaun Gray, 25, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and attempted murder in 2021 and received a seven year sentence. He is scheduled to be released from prison in October 2026, according to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction records.
The other co-defendant on the case, 20-year-old Finesse Robinson, died in December 2020 after being shot at a gas station on East Livingston Avenue. Robinson had been on house arrest after posting bond while awaiting sentencing.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Months before co-defendant’s prison release, man sentenced in 2017 killing
Reporting by Bethany Bruner, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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