Isaac Matthew Thomas was a 35-year-old Black/African American man from Zanesville, Ohio, whose life ended after a shooting on the night of January 22, 2014. Although some records associate his death with January 22, his obituary states that he died on Thursday, January 23, 2014, at Genesis Good Samaritan Hospital after being critically wounded the previous night. Police were called at approximately 9 p.m. to the 400 block of Spangler Drive after reports of a gunshot.
A witness told investigators that a man had run from a residence and fallen, while another person was seen running away in a different direction. Thomas had suffered a close-range gunshot wound to the chest and was rushed to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting became clearer as the criminal case moved through the courts. According to the Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, Thomas had been released from jail earlier on January 22 and went to the home of Chad Morrison. The court record states that during that visit Thomas took a firearm belonging to Morrison. Later that evening, Thomas returned to the residence, where Morrison, Anthony “Sosa” Wilson and Adam Rogers were present. An argument developed between Thomas and Morrison and escalated into a physical confrontation. During the altercation, Wilson stood up and shot Thomas in the chest.
After the shooting, Wilson, Morrison and Rogers left the residence together in Morrison’s vehicle. Trial testimony later showed that Morrison drove Wilson to the home of a friend identified as Matthew Angler. Wilson testified that Morrison gave him approximately $700 and drugs during the drive. Before leaving the vehicle, Wilson gave the firearm used in the shooting to Morrison. Rogers also testified that after the shooting he picked up items and, at Morrison’s direction, threw them into a field or vacant area near an alley. Rogers and Morrison then returned to Morrison’s home. These actions would later become important evidence in the prosecution of Morrison for obstructing justice.
In the immediate aftermath, Zanesville detectives searched the Spangler Drive scene for physical evidence and attempted to speak with people in the neighborhood. Police acknowledged that obtaining information was difficult, with some potential witnesses either unable or unwilling to provide details. Thomas’s family was left grieving while investigators worked to determine exactly what had happened inside the residence. His girlfriend of approximately three years, Jenna Starkey, spoke publicly about the devastating impact of his death and about their young son, Maddox, who was only about 10 months old at the time. Thomas was also the father of two daughters, Anyiah and Janea.
The investigation eventually resulted in serious charges against Chad Morrison. On June 25, 2014, a Muskingum County grand jury indicted Morrison on complicity to commit aggravated murder, two counts of obstructing justice and a weapons-under-disability charge. Prosecutors subsequently reduced the aggravated-murder-related count to murder. The case proceeded to trial in March 2015, with testimony from people who had been inside the residence, including Wilson and Rogers.
On March 26, 2015, the jury acquitted Morrison of murder and the accompanying firearm specification. However, the jury convicted him of two counts of obstructing justice, and the trial judge separately found him guilty of having a weapon while under disability. The following day, Morrison was sentenced to an aggregate term of 60 months in prison. His convictions for obstructing justice were later challenged on appeal, but on December 28, 2015, the Fifth District Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions, concluding there was sufficient evidence that Morrison had helped Wilson avoid apprehension by providing transportation, money and other assistance after Thomas was shot.
Anthony “Sosa” Wilson was identified in the appellate court record as the person who shot Thomas and later testified about the events surrounding the shooting and his departure from the scene. The publicly accessible appellate decision concerning Morrison documents Wilson’s role in the shooting but does not provide a separate final charging, trial or sentencing disposition for Wilson. What is firmly documented is that Morrison was prosecuted for his conduct surrounding the killing, was acquitted of murder, but was convicted of obstructing justice and the weapons offense for actions associated with the aftermath of Thomas’s death.
Thomas’s death left behind a family that included his mother, siblings and three children. His memorial service was held at the Greater Apostolic Church of Christ in Zanesville. What began as a late-night shooting investigation on Spangler Drive ultimately developed into a complicated criminal case involving the alleged theft of a firearm, an argument inside a residence, the fatal shooting itself and efforts afterward to help the identified shooter leave the area and dispose of or conceal evidence.
