Shooter in East Columbus homicide sentenced to prison

A suspect has been convicted and sentenced to prison on a reckless homicide charge after a victim died from a gunshot wound last fall in a shooting at a Columbus night club.

The incident started on October 27th, when police were called to a nightclub on State Street at 3:39 a.m. in the morning after reports of shots being fired. Witnesses said that an argument had broken out and the then 43-year-old Pedro Rivera-Ayala fired a gun. One of the bullets struck 32-year-old Alexander K. Brooks who was nearby.

Brooks  died of his injuries on November 9th at an Indianapolis hospital.

Rivera-Ayala was arrested and originally faced preliminary charges including preliminary charges of Pointing a Firearm, Intimidation with a Deadly Weapon, Aggravated Battery, Criminal Recklessness with a Deadly Weapon, and Operating a Motor Vehicle without ever Obtaining a License.

According to the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office, Rivera-Ayala was convicted Wednesday in the case and sentenced by Superior Court Judge Jim Worton to six years in prison, the maximum penalty to the Level 5 felony charge of reckless homicide.