Teen Murder Suspect To Be Tried As Adult

The Columbus teenager charged in a fatal crime spree last year will be tried as an adult.

A Franklin County Juvenile Court Judge bound 17-year-old Devonere Simmonds over yesterday, allowing a grand jury to consider aggravated murder charges. Simmonds is charged with killing 22-year-old Quinten Prater and 34-year-old Imran Ashgar, and seriously wounding 39-year-old William Rudd last July in a series of robberies in Columbus and Madison County. 18-year-old Nathaniel Brunner is also charged in Ashgar’s death and the shooting of Rudd. 19-year-old Darrel Durham has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in Ashgar’s death.