COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Franklin County jury found a 23-year-old guilty Friday in connection to the death of a Columbus mosque leader three years ago, said Prosecuting Attorney Gary Tyack.
According to the prosecuting attorney's office, Isaiah Brown-Miller was found guilty of aggravated robbery and kidnapping. A second suspect, 47-year-old John Wooden Jr., was found guilty on Oct. 25, 2023, of aggravated murder, kidnapping and aggravated robbery in the death of Mohamed Hassan Adam in 2021.
Adam was reported missing on Dec. 22, 2021, after he never arrived to pick up his child from daycare. Investigators said Adam was last seen leaving his mosque in a yellow van that night. His body was found inside the van near a wooded area off Windsor Avenue two days later.
An autopsy report showed Adam died from multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head.
Franklin County prosecutors alleged during the trials of the two men that the defendants were trying to get money from Adam and possibly from the mosque’s funds to which the imam had access. Investigators said earlier there was no indication Adam was targeted because of his faith or because he was a member of the Somali community.
Defense attorney Toure McCord had sought dismissal of the charges after the second mistrial, saying it was unlikely any jury would convict his client. He said in final arguments in the third trial that prosecutors had failed to prove that his client was involved in any way and pointed to several people he said could be alternative suspects.
Brown-Miller and Wooden's sentencing dates have not been set yet.
Wooden faces a mandatory life term in prison and at least 20 years before being eligible for parole. One of his attorneys, Paul Scarsella, alleged that the prosecution’s case against Wooden was built on assumptions and police failed to follow all leads.