Man who escaped SWAT team and later committed fatal shooting sentenced to 23 years

Over the course of two years, Jvonnie Chandler kept trying to kill a man as part of "an ongoing feud over drugs," prosecutors said.

On Dec. 23, 2020, Chandler fired multiple shots from a vehicle he was driving, according to court documents. He was trying to kill Monty Reid Jr., but ended up critically wounding another man who is now paralyzed from the neck down, the documents say. The shooting happened on Reading Road in Walnut Hills.

Chandler fled to Texas but in October 2021 was arrested locally. He was held at the Hamilton County Justice Center in connection with the shooting but in early 2022 posted a $50,000 bond, which was later revoked, court records show. He then posted a $100,000 bond in April 2022.

By July 2022, a warrant was issued for his arrest because he had been charged with drug trafficking. According to court records, he again posted bond and was required to wear a device that tracked his location. By late-August 2022, it was determined that Chandler cut off the electronic monitoring unit.

An affidavit filed Aug. 25, 2022 by a Hamilton County probation officer says, "the whereabouts of the defendant are currently unknown."

Less than two months later, on Oct. 11, 2022, court documents say Chandler fired multiple shots into a car that was stopped at a red light in Paddock Hills, killing Reid .

4-year-old in car during shooting

Two other people were in the car, including a 4-year-old child. The child was in the back seat but not injured. The child's mother, a woman in her 20s, was shot in the torso, hips and legs, according to court documents, and required multiple surgeries.

A month after the shooting, Chandler was still at large. In mid-November 2022, the Cincinnati police fugitive apprehension unit saw Chandler driving Downtown and tried to stop him. He sped off and ended up crashing into a woman's car at 5th Street and Central Avenue, injuring the woman.

Chandler then ran into a parking garage on Plum Street, according to police, and the department's SWAT team responded. Officers were not able to find him.

He was arrested Dec. 1, 2022 in Miami, Florida, officials said.

23-year prison sentence

On Thursday, Chandler pleaded guilty in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to multiple charges, including manslaughter for the killing of Reid and felonious assault for the other shooting victims. He also pleaded guilty to fentanyl trafficking charges.

Judge Chris Wagner imposed a sentence that had been agreed upon as part of the plea, 23 to 28½ years in prison.

Chandler declined to speak in court because he is still facing federal charges, but his attorney, Brandon Fox, said Chandler has expressed remorse for his crimes.

"He has accepted responsibility," Fox said, "and he's ready to move forward."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man who escaped SWAT team and later committed fatal shooting sentenced to 23 years