Columbus officer who shot, killed Donovan Lewis retires in 'bad standing'
FILE- Donovan Lewis, 20, was shot and killed by Officer Ricky Anderson in a Hilltop apartment as officers served a warrant on Aug. 30, 2022. (Columbus Division of Police)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The officer who shot and killed Donovan Lewis as he lay unarmed in bed retired from Columbus police in bad standing, the division of police said Friday.
Lewis, 20, was killed as officers served a warrant in the Hilltop neighborhood of Columbus last year.
Body-worn camera video captured the moments Ricky Anderson shot Lewis.
Ricky Anderson: Officer investigated for prior use of force/chain of command complaints
The Division of Police said in a statement that Anderson retired in "bad standing due to the ongoing criminal and administrative investigations into the death of Donovan Lewis."
"I feel disgusted," said Ramon Obey, who helped lead protests for Lewis. "This family is being forced to fight."
Obey is part of an organization called J.U.S.T.
"The officer needs to be fired," said the mom of Lewis, Rebecca Duran, in September of 2022.
"We did want to see the firing of Ricky Anderson, but it looks like that could no longer happen, as he's been allowed to retire," said Obey. "I feel a great deal of sadness for Rebecca, and the Donovan Lewis family, because they are fighters."
According to a spokesperson for the Columbus Division of Police, bad standing is determined by the Director of Public Safety. It means Anderson cannot keep his badge and gun, but he receives his pension.
"Immediately, we need to see the arrest of Ricky Anderson, and we need some form of communication between the city, the family and the attorneys," said Obey. "There's no reason that this family is forced to be suffering for so long, without any accountability on either of those sides."
Special prosecutors have yet to announce if a grand jury has returned charges against Anderson after the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation handed over its report into the shooting in December.
Prosecutors have to present the case to a grand jury to determine whether probable cause exists for a criminal case.
The family of Lewis filed a lawsuit last month in Franklin County against the officers who were serving the warrant.
"We see absolutely no reason why this case has not been submitted to the grand jury and an indictment secured," Rex Elliott, an attorney for the family, said at a press conference announcing the legal action. "The coroner's office did a detailed investigation and concluded that this was a homicide. The entire world knows that this was an unjustifiable killing."
After news about Anderson's retirement broke, Elliot said in a statement:
"Since the shooting death of Mr. Lewis, Anderson hasn’t been fired or indicted. Instead, he has enjoyed a more than six month vacation at taxpayers’ expense. And then, in cowardly fashion, the city of Columbus released information about his ‘retirement’ after 5 p.m. on a Friday."
