Ohio murder suspect hid gun part in Taco Bell bag in Virginia

by: Adam Conn

Posted: Jul 26, 2023 / 12:09 PM EDT

Updated: Jul 26, 2023 / 02:01 PM EDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The second of two suspects that was wanted for murder in a King-Lincoln Bronzeville shooting was in court Wednesday.

Charles Calaway, who was named as the second suspect in the murder of Javon Tucker in May, faced a Franklin County Municipal Judge for his arraignment hearing. Calaway was identified as a suspect on May 15, five days after Tucker was killed near a Dollar Plus store on Mount Vernon Avenue.

Calaway, 30, fled the state of Ohio and was found five hours south in Norton Virginia. He was arrested on June 10, three weeks after Tucker’s death.

According to court documents, Calaway and Davon Robinson, 33, were seen on video retrieving guns from Robinson’s vehicle and driving to the rear of the store, where they shot multiple times at Tucker and another man, who were leaving the store around 1:30 p.m.

Calaway and Robinson crossed the street into a parking lot of an apartment complex on Atcheson Street, where a security camera showed Robinson firing a handgun from each hand. Police found both victims suffering from gunshot wounds before being taken to Grant Medical Center.

Tucker, 28, was pronounced dead at 1:58 p.m., while the second victim, a 31-year-old man, was grazed by a bullet and was listed in stable condition.

After escaping to Norton, Calaway remained there for six weeks while being processed through Wise County General District Court on a concealed carry weapons charge. According to a criminal complaint with Norton police, a staff member at Family Crisis Support Services — a homeless shelter — told officers that Calaway had a firearm when he checked in.

Norton police said the staff member told Calaway, who hid the barrel portion of the gun inside a Taco Bell bag in a dumpster, that he could stay if he brought them the entirety of the weapon. The shelter then called Norton police and discovered Calaway had a felony conviction in Columbus.

Norton dispatchers received a hit confirmation and spoke with Columbus police, which confirmed extradition.

Calaway was returned to Columbus on Monday, arrested Tuesday, and issued a $500,000 bond in municipal court Wednesday. He will next appear in court on Aug. 4 for a preliminary hearing. Robinson received a $2 million bond in May.

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