Jury finds manager who fired shots during fatal vape shop break-in in 2023 guilty

DELHI TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The manager of a Delhi Township e-cigarette shop was found guilty by a jury last week for his involvement in a burglary that resulted in a shooting that left a 16-year-old dead and another burglary suspect injured, according to Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers.

Powers said 29-year-old Tony Thacker was found guilty Thursday of two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm.

He was never charged with anything in connection with the death of 16-year-old Travis Johnson, but he was charged with wounding one of the burglary suspects as they attempted to flee in a car.

According to Powers, Thacker was living in the back room of a VIP smoke shop in Delhi when several suspects, many of whom were also arrested for the fatal burglary attempt, attempted to break into the store around 1 a.m. on October 20, 2023.

Powers said Thacker came to the front entrance of the store with a gun after the burglary suspects smashed the store’s windows to get inside. He was charged with continuing to shoot after the threat passed.

“Thacker brought a firearm to the front of the store and immediately began shooting at the would-be burglars,” Powers said. “Instead of stopping the use of deadly force after the situation was resolved, Thacker continued to shoot at the fleeing subjects even as they drove away, hitting one of them in the car.”

The person who was shot in the car was 19-year-old Amontae Carter, who was also later arrested. Carter was eventually charged with two counts of murder, two counts of burglary and possession of instruments of crime.

In addition to Carter, police also arrested 18-year-old Messiah Hart for burglary and murder. Also arrested and charged were a 15-year-old, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old, all of whom were charged with murder and burglary.

Thacker’s attorney told WCPO in December that Thacker was the victim in this case and that he fired in self-defense.

“We can talk now about not shooting someone who is running away and shooting someone in the back, but we were not in his shoes and in his state of mind,” Goldberg said. “That night, his state of mind was: I have to protect myself.”

Goldberg said Thacker remained in the store during the shooting. Goldberg also said Thacker has been the victim of several burglaries in the past. A month before the October incident, Thacker was robbed by other masked assailants in the store, according to Goldberg.