A 23-year-old man from Norcross, Georgia, has been indicted in Franklin County on charges tied to the October killing of an 18-year-old whose body was found behind a Bexley apartment building, according to court records. Court filings identify the defendant as Jimmy Wilson. The indictment is the latest step in a case that began after a passerby discovered the body behind the complex last fall.
According to court filings reported by The Columbus Dispatch, Wilson was indicted on counts including murder, aggravated murder, felonious assault and possession of a dangerous ordnance. The filings also list a firearm specification alleging that the shooting involved an automatic weapon, a silencer or that it was carried out as a drive-by.
Bexley police identified the victim as 18-year-old Demetrese Norvett, whose body was found in bushes behind a North Cassady Avenue apartment building on Oct. 20. As the City of Bexley noted in a press release, investigators worked with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and other partners while chasing down leads. Early local coverage described the discovery as "found in the bushes," according to found in the bushes.
Wilson was arrested in Gwinnett County, Georgia, in November and was being held there pending extradition back to Ohio, authorities said at the time. Local reporting noted that the arrest followed a coordinated effort between investigators in Columbus and Gwinnett County, according to WCMH/NBC4 via Yahoo.
The apartment complex where Norvett was found had seen an increase in police calls over the previous two years, and his killing was Bexley’s first homicide since 2022, reporting shows. The Columbus Dispatch and other outlets have detailed the building’s history of calls for service.
What the firearm 'specification' could add
Under Ohio law, firearm specifications of the kind listed in the indictment can add mandatory prison terms if jurors find them true at trial, such as when a gun is an automatic weapon or when a defendant is accused of firing a weapon from a motor vehicle. Separate statutes set out automatic-firearm and suppressor specifications and "discharged from motor vehicle" specifications that can increase a prison term if proven. See Ohio Revised Code 2941.144 and §2941.146 for the statutory language.
The indictment now moves into the Franklin County courts, where arraignment and pretrial scheduling will set the next steps. Court filings and official schedules will be available through the county court system as the case proceeds.
