COLUMBUS – Ohio has a severe backlog of drug evidence at its state crime labs leading to longer wait times for charges to be filed and cases to be presented to grand juries.
The problem is so bad, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation sent a letter to prosecutors statewide this month notifying them of the delays and explaining how Attorney General Dave Yost plans to fix the issue.
In the letter, Yost and BCI Superintendent Joseph Morbitzer blame the problem on Senate Bill 57 which requires the state to test for levels of tetrahydrocannabinol or THC in hemp and COVID-19.
Drug evidence that would normally be processed in about 36 days is now averaging 120 days, said Bethany McCorkle, communications director for Yost.
My son is gone : Mother of West Jefferson shooting victim demands justice for his death
Leon Daniel was one of four people who was found shot and killed at a West Jefferson apartment on Monday evening. Author: Lacey Crisp Updated: 5:48 PM EDT May 27, 2021
WEST JEFFERSON, Ohio Westerville police said they still do not know who shot and killed four people who were found Monday evening at an apartment on Jackson Street.
The family of Leon Daniel, who was one of the four victims, said they want someone to be held accountable for the tragedy that happened.
Police responded to a 911 call from a passerby Monday around 5:30 p.m. about a man lying outside the apartment with a possible gunshot wound.
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Police received a 911 call about 5:27 p.m. from a passerby about a gunshot victim outside a long, white apartment house. We found multiple victims, West Jefferson Police Chief Christopher Floyd said Monday night. Earlier at the scene, he told reporters at the scene that three victims were found dead inside, but would not say how many victims were found outside the residence.
Floyd said the shooting occurred sometime between 1 p.m. and the 911 call just before 5:30 p.m.
A motive is unknown and there was no information on any suspect. Victims have not been identified. We don t know at this point if it was a robbery gone bad or what it was, Floyd said. He did say it was not a drive-by shooting.
A vehicle is shown at the scene of a shooting on Monday night in West Jefferson, Ohio, on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. Police say four bodies were found inside and outside a home after a shooting on a dead-end street in central Ohio, about 20 miles west of Columbus.
Credit Kyle Robertson/The Columbus Dispatch via AP
The bodies of three men and a woman were found after a shooting at a home on a dead-end street in central Ohio, police said.
Officers responded to the scene around 5:30 p.m. Monday after a passerby called 911, police said. One man was found Monday just outside the door, and the others were inside the residence in the village of West Jefferson, roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of downtown Columbus, West Jefferson police confirmed Tuesday.