Columbus Woman, 29, Arrested Nearly Two Years After Shooting Relative at Giant Eagle

A 29-year-old Columbus woman was arrested Thursday and arraigned Friday morning in Franklin County on felonious assault charges tied to a shooting inside a Giant Eagle grocery store on Stelzer Road nearly two years earlier. Kimaya Gibson is accused of shooting Saqualla Clark, a relative, inside the Market District store at 2900 Stelzer Rd. on November 24, 2023.

According to WSYX, Clark was taken to Mount Carmel East in stable condition after the shooting, and detectives presented her with a photo lineup the following day, November 25, 2023, in which she identified Gibson as the person who shot her. Authorities issued a warrant for Gibson's arrest that same day the shooting occurred, but the station reports that no updates on the case emerged between the warrant's issuance and Gibson's arrest nearly two years later. It remains unclear what specific lead led investigators to finally locate and arrest her this week.

Columbus police responded to the Stelzer Road store around 6:45 p.m. on the night of the shooting, according to 10TV WBNS. Giant Eagle closed the store for the remainder of that evening, offered support services to employees, and reopened the location by 7 a.m. the next day. The station's report does not specify what led to the confrontation between Gibson and Clark inside the store.

A Warrant That Sat for Nearly Two Years

The nearly two-year gap between the warrant's issuance and Gibson's arrest fits a broader pattern documented in Franklin County. A multi-state investigation found that law enforcement agencies across the region face massive backlogs of unexecuted arrest warrants, with tens of thousands of active warrants managed by the Franklin County Municipal Clerk of Courts alone, per the same report. That backlog offers one possible explanation for why a felony warrant issued the same day as the 2023 shooting took so long to result in an arrest, though the dossier does not specify what finally triggered Gibson's apprehension.

Gibson now faces a preliminary hearing set for September 4 at 9 a.m. in Franklin County. Under Rule 5(B) of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure, a defendant held in custody on felony charges must receive that hearing within 10 days of arrest so a court can determine whether probable cause exists to send the case to a grand jury.

What Gibson Could Face If Convicted

Felonious assault is classified as a second-degree felony under Ohio Revised Code § 2903.11 when committed knowingly with a deadly weapon or causing serious physical harm, carrying a potential penalty of 2 to 8 years in state prison and fines up to $15,000. If prosecutors ultimately attach a firearm specification under Ohio Revised Code § 2941.145 for displaying or using a handgun during the alleged felony, state law requires a mandatory, consecutive 3-year prison term that must be served before any sentence for the underlying assault charge.

A Grocery Store Corridor Under Scrutiny Before

The Stelzer Road Giant Eagle has drawn public safety attention before. In July 2023, months prior to the shooting, the Columbus City Attorney's office highlighted commercial security initiatives after an irate shopper smashed wine bottles and threatened staff at the same store, according to 10TV. The retail strip sits along a heavily trafficked corridor near the Easton shopping district, with commercial real estate records showing daily traffic counts exceeding 22,600 vehicles. Giant Eagle also contracts armed, uniformed off-duty law enforcement officers across its central Ohio stores for security deterrence, a standing practice at its central Ohio locations.

The case comes amid a broader decline in violent crime across Columbus. WOSU Public Media reported in July that Columbus Division of Police data showed fewer total felony assault cases investigated through the middle of 2026 compared to the previous two years, alongside a drop in total shootings. That followed a December 2025 report from the same outlet showing Columbus recorded 81 homicides in 2025, its lowest annual total in 16 years and a sharp decline from a 2021 peak of 205 homicides.

It remains unclear whether the weapon used in the shooting has been recovered or what specifically prompted the confrontation between the two relatives inside the store. Gibson's case will next be heard at the September 4 preliminary hearing in Franklin County.