Family of shooting victim offers cash reward for information on murder suspect

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Columbus family is mourning their loved one and calling for the community to step up in finding the alleged killer.

Jacob Coons, 25, was shot and killed at Charley's Place in Franklinton on July 28. Another man, who was just a bystander, was also shot and survived.

Columbus Police named a suspect and issued an arrest warrant for Duron Thomas, 32, that same day. The family of the victim is now offering an unspecified cash reward for information leading to an arrest.

On Sunday afternoon, Coons' mother Misty Hall gathered a group of more than a dozen family and friends to post fliers in the area where her son was killed.

"I need justice for my boy," Hall said.

Through tears, Hall and Randy Coons, Jacob's father, expressed their hurt for their son and their grandchildren.

"This is Jacob. He's a loving father. He had five babies," Hall said. "How do you explain to a four year old that he's never going to see his daddy ever again?"

"I just want him to be remembered as the loving person that he was," said Jacob's sister Brookelynn Dyer. "He made sure that his babies were set up."

Dyer, too, remembered her brother through tears and said, "He was very much a protector and a lover. And I just want everybody to remember that about him. He cared for everybody. So I just want everybody to care for him and to help us figure this out and catch him."

Randy Coons spoke about his son with pain in his voice. The boy he grew to call a friend was gone.

"I've had plenty of tussles with all kinds of people," he said. "But these guys are all, it ain't nothing about just not knuckling up and handling your business no more. All that stuff man, it heals. All them bumps and bruises all heal. But, you know, I mean, you can't bring nobody back when you do some coward stuff like that and take somebody's life from them."

The suspect, Thomas, is considered armed and dangerous by the Ohio Department of Corrections. He was released from prison in September 2023 and is wanted for violation of his parole in addition to the murder charge.

Coons' family members are working hard to help police find him and bring him to justice.

"We're going to touch each and every door out here with these fliers in this war until we find who killed my son," Hall said.

If you have any information about where Thomas is located, you're asked to call Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730.