Taya Mollette was a 24-year-old White female and a loving mother to three young children in Columbus, Ohio. Remembered by her family as a great mom, she worked as a server at Dan's Drive-In. She had been with her fiancée for eleven years, having met him when they were in the eighth grade.
On the night of September 13, 2023, an argument erupted outside Double D’s Pub on South High Street. Around 11:30 p.m., a man opened fire, shooting three people. One of the victims was Taya Mollette.
Another was Tavia Copley, a 24-year-old acquaintance who was at the pub celebrating her upcoming birthday. A third person, an adult male, was also wounded but was expected to survive. Paramedics pronounced Copley dead at the scene. Mollette was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition, but she was pronounced deceased at 12:29 a.m. on September 14.
Investigators quickly identified the suspect as Taya’s 19-year-old brother, Joseph Bryan Howard. According to a detective's testimony about surveillance video from the bar, Howard intervened in a fight between his sister and Tavia Copley. The video reportedly showed him firing his gun, hitting both women. After his gun jammed, he cleared it, walked up to Copley as she lay on the ground, and shot her in the head. A judge later described the act as an "execution style" shooting. Howard then stole a cell phone and fled.
An arrest warrant was issued, and a search for Howard began. On September 25, 2023, U.S. Marshals located and apprehended him in Largo, Florida. He was extradited back to Ohio to face justice. A Franklin County grand jury indicted Howard on nearly a dozen charges, including aggravated murder, multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, felonious assault, robbery, and tampering with evidence. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case proceeded to trial, where Joseph Bryan Howard was convicted of murder in the death of his sister, Taya Mollette, and aggravated murder for the death of Tavia Copley. For these crimes, he was sentenced to life in prison, with a term of 15 years to life for the murder of Mollette and 30 years to life for the aggravated murder of Copley.
