A 23-year-old man, Jaheym Cheeks, will spend the rest of his life behind bars for executing 14-year-old Brylan Butcher, a runaway boy. Reportedly, Cheeks killed the teen back in 2022 to silence him permanently, as he had witnessed a crime scene he had committed.
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As reported by The Columbus Dispatch, Cheeks was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Friday, October 3. He was previously found guilty by a Franklin County jury of aggravated murder and murder on September 17.
“Following a crime spree, he stole a 14-year-old’s life at the end of a gun,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum obtained by Law & Crime. “He did so by putting that gun to a boy’s head, resulting in the harm the testimony and photographs revealed at trial. Society should simply never have to fear him leaving a prison.”
Execution
Brylan’s body was found by a dumpster diver on March 5, 2022, in Columbus, Ohio. The 14-year-old was identified as a runaway from Abraxas. He had been in foster care just two weeks prior, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities found video footage that showed Cheeks and Brylan arriving at South Terrance Avenue, The Columbus Dispatch previously reported. The two of them were in the same vehicle. Cheeks is seen leaving the vehicle’s passenger seat and fatally shooting Brylan in the head. The now-convicted murderer then got into the driver’s seat.
Cheeks and another person inside the vehicle, Justice Vereen, drove away and discarded the gun used to murder Brylan. The gun was recovered in Tennessee. In 2024, Vereen was sentenced to 11 to 16 years and a half in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
According to the sentencing memorandum, Jaheym Cheeks murdered Brylan Butcher because he “knew too much.” This referred to a recent crime spree committed by Cheeks. The document detailed that the crime spree in question included “acts of violence, property crime, and firearms.”
Prosecutors wrote in the memo that Cheeks deceived Brylan into entering the vehicle and drove him out of town to execute him.
Furthermore, after he was arrested, Cheeks appeared remorseless, even telling others that he was sleeping “fine” after killing the 14-year-old.
Prosecutors did recognize, however, that Cheeks went through a childhood that “no one should endure,” the memo said. While that information was worth considering, prosecutors still made the case that Cheeks should remain imprisoned for life. This was due to the violent nature of the murder and his lack of regret.
In the end, the judge agreed, and Cheeks will die in prison.