A Franklin County jury has convicted Mansfield resident Tyrone Gray, 27, of two counts of murder and one count of inducing panic related to a fatal shooting at the Mall at Tuttle Crossing in 2022. According to information from the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office, the decision came late in the evening last Friday, following the death of Dontarious Sylvester, 25, during an altercation inside a shoe store. The jury acquitted Gray on charges of aggravated burglary and two counts of aggravated murder.
In a trial presided over by Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Andy Miller, Gray was handed a sentence of 21 years to life in prison. The sentencing announcement arrived a day before the conviction news went public. The incident in question transpired just before 3 p.m. on June 12, 2022, when Gray phoned authorities to report that he had shot Sylvester after an argument turned physical, culminating in Sylvester striking Gray with a purse.
The confrontation and subsequent shooting were captured on the mall's surveillance video, displaying the two men, both hailing from Mansfield, in an escalating disagreement inside the Sole Stop store. Following the purse's impact, Gray discharged his firearm multiple times, fatally wounding Sylvester on the spot. More than a dozen shoppers were inside the store when the shots rang out, but there were no other physical injuries reported.
Triggering mass hysteria, the echoes of gunfire propagated a wave of panic throughout the busy shopping center. As patrons dashed away in terror, emergency lines were flooded with over 40 distress calls originating from within the mall. Subsequently, the entire mall was placed under lockdown while law enforcement officers meticulously secured each establishment. Gray, who pleaded not guilty to the initial charges, was apprehended by police without further incident in the mall parking lot.
