A Columbus man has pleaded guilty to murder in the 2023 stabbing death of his neighbor, a killing prosecutors say began with a knock on a bedroom door and ended in a flurry of knife wounds. The victim, 50-year-old James Dawson Jr., was found unresponsive inside an East Side home and later pronounced dead. With the plea now on the record, the case is shifting into the sentencing phase and the long-term questions around parole eligibility.
According to NBC4, 42-year-old Rieko Leohner admitted in court filings that he took a knife from the kitchen, walked to Dawson’s bedroom, knocked on the door, and then stabbed him multiple times. The outlet reports that Leohner later spoke with detectives and acknowledged his role in the attack.
Where the attack happened
Officers were called to the 800 block of South Champion Avenue on April 1, 2023, where they found Dawson and requested medics, the Columbus Division of Police homicide archive shows. Dawson was pronounced dead at 9:05 p.m. City records indicate investigators quickly identified and arrested a suspect in the hours after the killing, and the case remains catalogued in the city’s April 2023 homicide archive.
What court records show
Court documents reviewed by NBC4 state that Leohner confessed during an interview with detectives and that surveillance footage captured him leaving the scene covered in blood. The filings note he received credit for more than 1,100 days already served and were entered along with a life sentence that includes the possibility of parole after 15 years. Records list 2038 as the year he will become eligible for parole and also order two years of post-release control and registration as a violent offender.
Next steps and context
With the guilty plea recorded, the Franklin County court will move to formally finalize the sentence, and the file will be available to the Ohio Adult Parole Authority once Leohner reaches his parole eligibility date. Dawson’s killing is listed alongside several other deadly incidents in the Columbus April 2023 homicide archive, a reminder of how investigators lean on public tips and detailed records to track serious violent crime across the city.
