Jhuante Burton Sentenced to Six to Nine Years in Prison for Aggravated Vehicular Homicide

Posted on 12/8/2022

Defendant: Jhuante Burton

Jhuante Burton, 37, of Columbus was sentenced today to a mandatory prison term of six to nine years following his plea to aggravated vehicular homicide for a fatal crash that occurred March 20, 2020.

Shortly after 7 that night, Burton was driving his Chevrolet Captiva westbound on West Broad Street toward Georgesville Road at a high rate of speed. As he approached the line of vehicles stopped at the red light, he failed to brake and instead increased his speed from 55 to 58 miles per hour in a 45-MPH zone. He hit a Dodge Caravan driven by Steven Waits, 64, of Grove City, who was stopped at the red light in the westbound lane. Waits was pronounced dead at the scene from injuries sustained in the crash.

Authorities later determined that Burton had received methadone treatment immediately prior to driving and had used fentanyl at some point earlier in the day. Moreover, he did not possess a valid driver’s license at the time of the crash.

In addition to the prison term, Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Daniel Hawkins imposed a lifetime driver’s license suspension.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey Zezech handled the case for the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.