COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus man was sentenced to prison after he pleaded guilty to two charges in the death of another man at Bicentennial Park in 2020.
Emmanuel Bridges, 33, was sentenced to 18 to 23 ½ years for involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery.
On Sept. 6, patrol officers were near the park just after 2 a.m. when they were flagged down by a concerned citizen to check a person, who was lying on the ground and not moving.
When officers arrived on the scene, they found 61-year-old Michael Russell, who was bleeding from multiple puncture wounds.
Russell was not moving, so the officers began giving him CPR. He was then taken to a hospital in critical condition where he was later pronounced dead just before 2:30 a.m.
According to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office, Bridges confronted Russell about money he owed him.
A verbal argument between the two transformed into a physical altercation when Bridges pulled out a knife and stabbed Russell several times. Police arrested Bridges at the scene.
Bridges was initially charged with murder but took a plea deal to reduce the charge.
The prosecutor’s office said Bridges was sentenced to 11 to 16 ½ years on the manslaughter charge and seven years for robbery. He will serve the sentences consecutively.
