Columbia man sentenced to life in prison for deadly 2022 shooting
Jazsmin Halliburton
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Columbia man found guilty of a deadly 2022 shooting was sentenced to life in prison on Friday afternoon.
Boone County Judge Jacobs decided in court that Isaac Bryant, 38, will serve life in prison and will have the possibility for parole after 30 years. Bryant was also given 10 years for armed criminal action, he will serve the sentences consecutively with credit for time served.
In August, Isaac Bryant was found guilty of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of Demetrius Ware in May of 2022.
Prosecutors allege Bryant killed Ware, 37, in the 800 block of Grand Avenue. Police said Bryant drove by the home and shot Ware. Ware was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
At the time of the trial, the state showed the jury a map of three areas where Bryant’s phone pinged. The prosecution argued the path led him to the home where the shooting occurred, in a blue Impala that they believe he drove.
Text messages were also brought as evidence between Bryant and the state’s eyewitness that he was planning to be in the area where the shooting took place. Prosecutors claim that Bryant shot Ware after becoming jealous that he was there.
Bryant’s attorneys filed a motion for a new trial in September and made their argument in the courtroom Friday. They cited issues with cell phone data the prosecution used during the trial to place Bryant on or around Grand Avenue at the time of the 2022 shooting.
Jacobs ultimately denied their motion.
Ware’s mother and sister also shared victim-impact statements in the courtroom. His mother detailed the night her son was shot and how she found out about what happened to him. She told Bryant his actions were the result of jealousy, personal hatred and greed.
Ware’s sister read from a book Demetrius wrote when he was 9 years old about getting hit by a car and seriously hurt. At the end of the book, Demetrius talked about being grateful to be alive because his family would miss him.
Following court Friday, his sister spoke to ABC 17 News and said that feeling could be more true after his passing.
“We miss Demetrius,” Ware’s sister Kimberly Jordan-Sheley said. “Every Mother’s Day we are constantly reminded of the death, the loss, the shooting that just made a very powerful impact on our on our life.”
No friends or family were present for Bryant in the courtroom Friday, or during trial proceedings.