Director to be sentenced on Monday

Lina PortmanAugust 26, 2024

0 2 minutes read

The manager of a tobacco shop in Delhi Township is expected to be sentenced Monday for chasing and shooting a group of fugitives who had broken into the store.

Earlier this month, a Hamilton County jury convicted Tony Thacker, 30, of two counts of assault. He was acquitted of three other counts of assault, as well as tampering with evidence, court records show.

In October, Thacker was spending the night at the VIP Smoke Shop on Delhi Road when six people burst into the store and threw a rock through the window, prosecutors said.

Thacker emerged from the back of the store and opened fire, killing Travis Johnson, 16. As the five other intruders fled and got into a stolen car, prosecutors said Thacker gave chase and fired seven shots into the fleeing vehicle.

One of the occupants was hit by a bullet in the back, while bullets grazed two others.

Thacker called his brother after the shooting and together they retrieved shell casings and disconnected security cameras, prosecutors said, adding that they did not call 911 or seek help for the teen still dying inside the store. However, Thacker was cleared of any wrongdoing in Johnson's death.

The store's surveillance footage contained video of a previous shooting at the tobacco store a month earlier.

Thacker reported the shooting to police, saying someone shot him as they tried to enter the store. However, the video shows Thacker shooting someone who was trying to enter the store, prosecutors said.

“The sad part about this case is that he was initially the victim of a serious crime and had been the victim of similar offenses in the past in the course of his employment at VIP,” Thacker's attorney Richard Goldberg wrote in a court filing.

In February, three teenagers pleaded guilty in Hamilton County Juvenile Court to numerous charges, including involuntary manslaughter, burglary and receiving stolen property.

As part of their plea bargain, prosecutors agreed to drop the additional charges and withdraw their requests to transfer the teens' cases to adult court.

Judge Kari Bloom convicted each of the teens and sentenced them to several years in an Ohio Department of Youth Services facility, from which they will be released on or before they turn 21.

Messiah Hart, 19, and Amontae Carter, 20, were charged with murder and burglary alongside the teens. Their cases are still pending, according to court documents.

Thacker is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. before Hamilton County Magistrate Judge Wende Cross.

Lina Portman

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