Jury selection to begin in Tokes murder

2/22/2018

Brian Lee Golsby, center, stands with his attorneys Diane Menashe, left, and Kort Gatterdam, during his arraignment hearing in April, 2017, at Franklin County Common Pleas Courthouse in Columbus.

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

COLUMBUS — Jury selection will begin Friday in the trial of Brian Golsby, who potentially faces the death penalty for the murder a year ago of former Monclova Township resident Reagan Tokes.

Ms. Tokes, 21, was months shy of graduating from Ohio State University with a psychology degree when she was abducted, raped, and shot after leaving the Columbus restaurant where she worked on the night of Feb. 8, 2017. Her body was found the next day in a Grove City park.

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Golsby, 30, had been recently released from prison after serving an unrelated sentence for attempted rape. He was staying in a halfway house and was equipped with an ankle-monitoring bracelet, but the GPS unit was not being monitored in real time.

Data collected by the unit, however, was later used by police to place him at the scene of that crime as well as at several Columbus robberies that occurred in the days immediately preceding the murder. He was initially connected with the crime when his DNA was allegedly discovered on a cigarette butt found in Ms. Tokes’ recovered car.

Common Pleas Judge Mark Serrott is expected to bring in a large pool of potential jurors beginning Friday to complete questionnaires and respond to questions about the death penalty. That process could take several days, and the start of the trial could be a week away.

This trial will focus on the murder and related charges, with a trial on the separate robbery charges occurring at a later date.