Chrystian Foster, right inset, learned his fate in the death of Gregory Coleman Jr., left inset. Dwayne Cummings, center inset, was also imprisoned in the case. (Mug shots from Columbus Division of Police; Exterior of the bar is a screenshot from WBNS/YouTube; victim’s photo from court documents via WCMH)
A former bar security guard was sentenced on Friday to life in prison for a sucker-punch attack that killed a 37-year-old father eating at a food stand outside a bar in Ohio.
Chrystian Foster, 34, learned his fate in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas on Friday in the death of Gregory Coleman Jr.
In court, Coleman’s mother, Geraldine Coleman, scolded Foster, local CBS affiliate WBNS reported.
“His daughter, our granddaughter, she’s hurt so bad. She loved her father, and he adored her. You took that from her,” she said of the 10-year-old, the station reported. “You have done so much damage. I could never forgive you for what you’ve done.”
His father added: “I guess I’ll go through the rest of my life without him, but I’ll always remember this courtroom and all the good that happened to get justice for him.”
“He was just all you could ask for in a son,” he added. “I loved him more than anyone would ever know.”
Foster, whose attorney said he will appeal, apologized for the incident, the outlet reported.
“That night was a rough night. Lots of things went wrong, things I never intended to happen,” Foster said. “I made a mistake, and I apologize for my mistake.”
Foster was the second person imprisoned in the attack. Dwayne Cummings, 40, also a bar security guard, was convicted in February and sentenced to life with parole possible in 15 years, according to a news release from the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
His attorneys also said he would appeal, and Cummings apologized, local NBC affiliate WCMH reported.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. I apologize for my actions and my actions only,” he said, the station reported.
Cummings punched Coleman Jr., a bartender, in the early morning hours of Sept. 5, 2022, in front of a bar in the 1000 block of North High Street in Columbus, prosecutors said. After the victim fell and hit his head on the ground, Cummings and Foster beat him as he lay motionless before running away, prosecutors said.
At 2:09 a.m., Columbus police pulled up to the scene and saw the victim partially lying in the street unresponsive.
The victim went into a coma, was taken to a hospital and put on life support with police unsure whether he’d pull through.
Anthony Pierson, a deputy chief counsel for the prosecutor’s office, called it “a senseless violent attack” that left a daughter without “the ability to hug, talk to or laugh with her dad.”
Police posted information about the case on social media as Coleman remained on life support and the case was listed on the city of Columbus’ “Homicide Cold Case Unit Archive,” pleading for help to solve it and “bring justice to the family of this victim.”
Attempted murder warrants were filed against Foster and Cummings on Sept. 13, 2022, police said. After Coleman died on Sept. 18, 2022, authorities amended the charges against them to murder, police said in a Facebook post.
The victim’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the defendants and the now-shuttered bar, court documents posted on WCMH’s website said.
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