A Columbus man will spend at least the next 25 years in prison for a drive-by shooting that left a 2-year-old boy critically wounded on the city's East Side. Xavior McGrapth, now 23, pleaded guilty to attempted murder on Monday, and Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Stephen McIntosh sentenced him to 25 to 30 years behind bars the same day.
The case dates back to the evening of July 7, 2024, when officers responded to a shooting in the 4000 block of Carlton Avenue at approximately 8:59 p.m. and found a 2-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound, according to a Columbus Division of Police release. The Columbus Police Homicide Unit investigated the shooting because of the severity of the child's injuries, and the boy was reported to be in critical condition. McGrapth later pleaded guilty.
The shooting injured people outside the residence, including the toddler. The intended target of the shooting remains unclear.
A Toddler's Long Road to Recovery
The victim, identified as Devaughn “D.J.” Sheely Jr., was shot while standing near a family member outside his home, per an NBC4 Columbus report. His breathing and feeding tubes had been removed, but he continued to have swallowing and movement problems and might require rehabilitation.
Columbus police formally charged McGrapth with felonious assault on September 9, 2024, while he was already sitting in the Franklin County Jail on an unrelated charge, according to the Columbus.gov release.
Why the Sentence Runs 25 to 30 Years
McGrapth's sentence reflects Ohio's Reagan Tokes Law, enacted in 2019, which imposes indefinite terms for first- and second-degree violent felony convictions. Under the statute, a judge sets a minimum term and a maximum term up to 1.5 times longer, giving state prison officials the power to extend an inmate's incarceration for disciplinary infractions, according to Court News Ohio. The Ohio Supreme Court upheld the law's constitutionality in 2023.
McGrapth was 21 years old at the time of the July 2024 shooting. That fits a broader pattern identified in Columbus Division of Police statistics reported in July 2025, which found that nearly half of all homicide suspects in the city were 21 or younger, according to NBC4 Columbus.
A City Still Grappling With Gun Violence
The Carlton Avenue shooting happened as Columbus was in the midst of a post-pandemic decline in violent crime. After a historic high of 205 homicides in 2021, the city recorded just 22 homicides through mid-April 2024 — its lowest mark at that point in the year since 2015 — with city leaders crediting improved policing and violence intervention programs, per WOSU Public Media.
The Carlton Avenue shooting is an example of how young children can be caught in Columbus gun violence.
Even as overall homicides in Columbus fell roughly 40 percent between 2021 and 2024, factors including Ohio's June 2022 permitless concealed carry law and police staffing shortages of more than 200 officers continue to complicate local violence prevention efforts, according to Omnilert. That law eliminated licensing and training requirements for concealed handguns statewide.
