Defendant Owen Wyne was sentenced Wednesday, Feb. 26, by Judge Kevin P. Braig of the Logan County Court of Common Pleas General Division to over 14 years in prison related to shooting incidents that occurred in August of 2023.
The convictions include two drive-by shooting specifications, two counts of improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation or school safety zone, felonies of the second degree; and one count of attempted trespass, a felony of the fourth degree.
The sentence was jointly recommended to the court by Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart and Wyne’s defense counsel, Madison Mackay, of Columbus.
Aug. 14, 2023, Wyne traveled by car with others to the homes of persons that he believed had been unsympathetic to the death of one of his friends.
Wyne discharged a Black Hi-Point CF380 firearm, and the bullets entered two homes, one in Bellefontaine and one in Washington Township in the Indian Lake area. No physical injuries to any occupants of the homes resulted from the shootings.
Investigators linked the incident to a residence in Russells Point. When officers attempted to contact the suspect, he fled on foot, as previously reported in the Examiner. During the pursuit, officers observed him throwing a handgun into Indian Lake. Wyne was apprehended shortly after and taken into custody.
The Indian Joint Fire District Dive Team assisted at the scene and was able to locate the firearm in Indian Lake.
At the time of his arrest, Wyne, then 17, was lodged at the Central Ohio Youth Center for a probation violation.
On Oct. 15, 2024, the Family Division of the Logan County Court of Common Pleas bound him over to the General Division. In doing so, Judge Kim Kellogg-Martin found that Wyne “glamorize(d) a criminal lifestyle.”
At the sentencing hearing, the defendant admitted that his actions were wrong.
“I thought it made you cool, but it doesn’t. It makes you a coward,” Wyne said.