Ex-Columbus officer gets probation in Donovan Lewis shooting death
Editorial illustration — Press Pass USAFormer Columbus police officer Ricky Anderson will serve three years of probation for the 2022 shooting death of Donovan Lewis, 20, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Julie Lynch ruled at a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Anderson will serve no prison time.
Anderson originally faced murder and reckless homicide charges after he shot and killed Lewis in bed on August 30, 2022, while officers were trying to arrest him at his West Side apartment in Columbus. The case generated significant public outcry and protests; Lewis was Black, and Anderson is white.
Anderson entered an Alford plea on September 3 to reckless homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. An Alford plea admits there is enough evidence to support a conviction without admitting guilt. In exchange, the state agreed to drop the murder charge.
At Wednesday's hearing, Lynch acknowledged the pain of Lewis' family but said his death "wasn't intentional." "What the family wants, really, is vengeance, and what we are here for is justice," she said.
Body camera video showed Anderson opening a bedroom door and firing a shot less than a second later. The video showed Lewis sitting up in bed holding an object that was later determined to be a vape pen in his right hand. Anderson told investigators he believed the vape pen was a weapon. He retired in bad standing after the shooting.
Anderson was a K-9 officer who went to arrest Lewis on several outstanding warrants, some related to an alleged assault on his pregnant girlfriend, along with a team of other officers that day. Officers knocked on the door for several minutes before two people in the apartment came to the door. When Lewis did not come outside, Anderson and his dog searched the apartment.
Members of Lewis' family called for the maximum sentence at the hearing. They said Lewis has a son, Donovan Jr., who never got to meet his father. "His son will never hear his laugh, hear his dad's voice," said Tariq Stewart, Lewis' brother. Lewis' mother, Rebecca Duran, said she still wakes up every morning at 3 a.m., around the time Lewis was pronounced dead.
Bart Keyes, an attorney for Lewis' family, said in a statement that the family waited more than four years for the sentencing day, hoping the sentence would reflect what happened to Lewis, and that it is hard for them that it did not. "I don't think many people would see this as accountability for the death of a 20-year-old in his own bed," Keyes said. He added that the family's civil lawsuit against Anderson and the city of Columbus remains ongoing, with a trial set for February.
Anderson's attorney, Mark Collins, asked for community control, saying Anderson would not be a threat to the public because he is no longer a police officer and will not be allowed to own a gun. Anderson apologized to the family in court. "I do apologize to each and every one of you," he said. "I've suffered a lot. … We all suffered."
In a statement, Franklin County Prosecutor Shayla Favor said her office respects the decision of the court but that a sentence with no prison time "fails to adequately reflect the gravity of this offense." "Today's sentence does not diminish the value of Donovan's life, nor does it change our belief that no one is above the law, regardless of their position, title, or the uniform they wear," Favor said.
Sources: The Columbus Dispatch, "Ex-Columbus officer gets probation in Donovan Lewis shooting death" (Nov. 4, 2026); WBNS 10TV, "Former officer Ricky Anderson sentenced in 2022 murder case" (Nov. 4, 2026), reporting that family members gave victim impact statements after the judge sentenced Anderson to community control; CNN, "Former Columbus, Ohio, officer pleads guilty to reckless homicide in Black man's 2022 death" (Sept. 4, 2026), on the Alford plea and the dropped murder charge.
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