Teen girl to face charges for 2022 Columbus deadly shooting as an adult

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — A teen girl accused of shooting an innocent man at 15 years old will face charges as an adult, a judge ordered.

Jorge Rodriguez, 37, was shot and killed on May 24, 2022. Neighbors told WSYX that a white SUV pulled up to one of the neighbor’s houses. Moments later, a person got out of the car and started shooting a gun down the neighborhood street.

Rodriguez was shot as he was on his way to the grocery store.

Columbus police charged Kaytiana Terrell, 15 at the time, months after the shooting. She turned herself in soon after.

“We do not know why she shot. She did not make any statements to why she did,” Columbus Police Det. Greg Stevens said at a June 2022 press conference announcing the charges.

A juvenile court judge ordered her on Dec. 4, 2023, to be bound over to Common Pleas court to face the charges as an adult.

The court’s order detailed some of the evidence against her, including videos of the shooting, witness interviews, and evidence from the scene of the homicide. Her bond was set at $500,000.

Judge Kim Brown wrote that she and the victim did not know each other, and there was no evidence presented that she was part of a gang.

Rodgriguez’s brother spoke at the press conference, remembering his brother as a hardworking man and a father to a 14- and 15-year-old.

“He never did harm to anyone or even thought about harming anyone,” his brother said.