She asked her landlord if there were any jobs she could do to defray the cost of rent. Danielle said she was painting the kitchen in one of the other homes her landlord owned when he arrived. A couple of times, she said, he came to collect rent in his uniform.
Seven months have passed since that same Columbus vice officer, Andrew Mitchell, shot and killed a young mother named Donna Dalton during a prostitution arrest. This month, Mitchell was indicted on federal charges of abusing his role as a law enforcement officer, obstructing justice, witness tampering, and making false statements to investigators.
According to the indictment, he had kidnapped multiple women and coerced them into sex in exchange for their release from his custody. In a motion opposing his release while awaiting trial, Jessica Kim of the U. Mitchell is in federal custody, and on or around April 4, he will appear before a grand jury in Columbus, where he may also be indicted by Franklin County for killing Dalton.
The federal trial begins in May; he is facing life in prison. The women who spoke with The Appeal describe Mitchell as a man who repeatedly intimidated and pressured them for sexual contact, and who used the power of his badge to ensure their silence.
Andrew Mitchell joined the vice squad in , after 30 years on the force, including five years in homicide. But as a side job, he is a landlord who had 15 properties registered to his name at the time he killed Dalton, according to Franklin County parcel records. The former tenants interviewed by The Appeal described their buildings as neglected and pest-ridden the city has filed 37 violations on his properties since for problems like housing code violations and environmental issues.
