The son of a former Ohio University Board of Trustees member was charged with aggravated murder, murder and tampering with evidence Wednesday.
Jonah B. Lake, 20, said an intruder shot his father, 51-year-old Kevin B. Lake, in their Plain Township home on June 22, 2017, according to the Columbus Dispatch. However, Jonah is in custody and will be arraigned in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court within the week.
“The investigation revealed that a home invasion had been staged, and investigators believe Lake’s son Jonah was responsible for the murder,” Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said in a news release.
According to a previous Post report, the former Board of Trustees member was found suffering a gunshot wound in his bedroom. He died the next day at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, and the case was investigated as a homicide.
Jonah called the police after 7 a.m. and told them someone had broken into the family’s home. He said he heard gunshots after his father got into an altercation with the intruder, and his father was unresponsive.
Days before Kevin was shot, the family said someone broke into their home, took a picture of Jonah while he was asleep and sent a threatening letter with the photo, according the Dispatch. Susan Lake, Kevin’s wife, and Jonah also told investigators that they believe Kevin’s death was a result of his agreement to cooperate with the federal government as a condition of his plea deal.
Kevin had stepped down from his role as an OU Board of Trustee member after pleading guilty to charges of drug, tax and fraud charges in January 2017 for operating the Columbus Southern Medical Center as a pill mill. Prior to his death, Kevin was facing five years in prison and had been a trustee since 2010.
