Deaunte Lamar Bell, a 25-year-old African American man, was fatally shot by Columbus police officers on October 29, 2015. The incident occurred at the Amberly Square Apartments on Refugee Road in Columbus, Ohio. Police officers John Narewski and Matthew Baas stopped a car in the apartment complex's parking lot due to suspicious activity. Bell, who was in the back seat of the car, was shot multiple times, including in the head and chest, after allegedly reaching for a gun.
He was pronounced dead at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center shortly after the shooting.
Bell had a history of weapons charges and was on court-ordered supervision at the time of his death. In 2014, he was sentenced to two years of intensive supervision for possessing a 9mm handgun. This charge violated his probation from an earlier weapons charge, and he faced a three-year prison term if he violated probation again. Bell had also been on probation for a 2008 robbery in which a weapon was displayed.
Following Bell's death, his family retained attorneys Christopher M. Cooper and Walton + Brown, LLP, to investigate the shooting and hold the officers accountable. However, a Franklin County Grand Jury cleared Officers Narewski and Baas of any wrongdoing in May 2016. The family expressed concerns about the impartiality of the investigation and discrepancies in witness accounts.
Despite the legal outcomes, the case remains a point of contention and has raised questions about police conduct and the use of force in similar situations.
