Nigel BrunsonOhio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Nigel Brunson already faces attempted murder charges in the shooting of two people during a robbery at Hot Sauce Williams. Now he’s charged in an armed robbery that ended in the death of a beloved bartender during a robbery at a West Side bar.
The 19 year old is charged with aggravated murder. Two other men– Dana Thomas, 29, and Dwayne Sims, 21, were previously charged with aggravated murder in the case. All three men are being held in the Cuyahoga County Jail on bond.
A grand jury indicted the trio Monday on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, kidnapping, aggravated burglary and felonious assault.
The indictment, made public on Wednesday, also says prosecutors are reserving the option to seek the death penalty in the case.
An arraignment date has not yet been set.
Prosecutors said the group shot Melissa Brinker, 44, at close range and in cold blood on Oct. 24 at the Cooley Lounge on West 130th Street.
Brinker was working when three men walked into the bar about 11:30 p.m.
The three-person group walked into the bar about 11:30 p.m. to case the business to see if they could rob it, prosecutors said. They drank at the bar.
The men pulled out guns and ordered Brinker and five others in the bar to the ground, prosecutors said. The group pistol-whipped a 38-year-old woman, prosecutors said.
The group also stole wallets and purses from the five patrons, police said. They forced Brinker to a back office at gunpoint and ordered her to open a safe, according to prosecutors.
Someone in the group then shot Brinker several times, police said.
Prosecutors said the bar’s surveillance video that recorded the entire incident, including the shooting.
Brunson was already jailed on $100,000 bond in connection with the Oct. 14 at Hot Sauce Williams when the grand jury indicted him in Brinker’s death.
He and two others are accused of luring a man and woman to the parking of the popular Carnegie Avenue restaurant. The group responded to an advertisement on the OfferUp app regarding the hoverboard.
Both robbers pulled out guns and asked the 25-year-old man selling the hoverboard if he had any other cash, or a phone to steal, according to police reports. The man said no, walked back to his car and started to drive away.
One gunman tapped on the passenger side of the door with his gun, police reports say. The 25-year-old tried to drive off, but the group fired several gunshots at the car, police said.
The 25-year-old man was shot in the face and his 24-year-old girlfriend in the foot. Both were treated at University Hospitals.
Brunson and his co-defendants — Samuel Crooks, 20, and Anthony Collins Jr., 20– have pleaded not guilty in that case.
Brunson was released from prison Jan. 29, 2016 after serving an 18-month sentence for two unrelated cases. In those cases, he broke into two Shaker Heights homes in 2014, stealing laptops, jewelry and other items.
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