COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Columbus man was found guilty of murder in a shooting at a fitness center last year that left a 23-year-old man dead.
Tae Von Bush, 20, was convicted on Wednesday of murder, inducing panic, carrying a concealed weapon and having weapons under disability in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. He acquitted of aggravated murder.
The charges stemmed from the shooting death of Tobias Cunningham on March 28, 2023.
Court records say Bush played in a basketball game against Cunningham at the Esporta gym off Hilliard-Rome Road. As the next game was about to begin, Bush approached Cunningham and engaged in a brief argument. Bush then shot him multiple times.
Cunningham was taken to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries.
Bush turned himself in to police two weeks after the shooting.
When testifying on Tuesday, Bush claimed that Cunningham had made verbal threats toward him during a basketball game. The two men had argued after a hard foul in the first game, but they then played a second game.
Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Steve Schott noted to the jury that Bush stayed at the gym and sat on the sidelines through another pickup game before approaching Cunningham and pulling out a gun.
Schott noted that Bush waited more than 30 minutes before the confrontation and had a gun in the waistband when he approached Cunningham.
Bush was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 23 years.