21 YEAR OLD INDICTED FOR MURDERING FORMER OSU CHEER TEAM MEMBER DURING ROBBERY Triggerman had been Released from Prison only 25 days before this Homicide

Posted on 6/20/2016

Defendant: Dalon Laquan Smoot

Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said “This 21 year old is charged with murdering a former OSU cheer team leader and current cheer team coach in the same cul-de-sac on Larry Place where just days before there was an unrelated murder.”  Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said that the Franklin County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Dalon Laquan Smoot, age 21, in connection to the June 11, 2016 shooting death of Gerald Lee Bishop II, age 31, that occurred during the course of a robbery.  Bishop had previously cheered for OSU during his college years and was presently a coach at a competitive cheer gym called Midwest Magic Allstars Cheer and Dance.   Smoot had just been released from prison on a 5 year aggravated robbery sentence only 25 days before the murder of Bishop. That prior conviction is the basis of the Repeat Violent Offender specifications in the indictment, which contains counts of Aggravated Murder, Murder, Aggravated Robbery, Tampering with Evidence, and Weapon Under Disability.  O’Brien further stated, “Smoot faces a potential sentence of life without parole for the Aggravated Murder counts.”  Smoot will be arraigned on Wednesday, June 22nd at 1:30 pm in courtroom 2B at 345 S. High Street.