ZANESVILLE – A Zanesville mother sought revenge after believing her daughter had been sexually assaulted in December. She took matters into her own hands, but it derailed into a vigilante mob that shot the wrong person.
Lovely Dawn Worden, 39, noted as the “ring leader” of the shooting incident, was sentenced to 21.5 total years, which could stretch as long as 25, across two cases. She was just one of seven total defendants and one of five sentenced Aug. 11.
Lovely D. Worden and her attorney Keith Edwards stand before Judge Gerald Anderson II. She was sentenced to 21.5 years in prison during a hearing Aug. 11 for two cases from December 2024. One case involved Worden organizing a group of vigilantes to enact justice.
Worden pleaded guilty to three felonies in March: attempted aggravated burglary, second degree; conspiracy, first degree; and felonious assault, second degree.
Worden didn’t shoot the male victim, but she was the impetus for a manhunt that can be divided into several parts: the group’s first siege on a house on Swingle Street, procuring a shotgun at a local hotel, regrouping in downtown Zanesville, and a night-time search for the intended male target that at least took place on parts of Greenwood Avenue.
The victim, innocent and unconnected, was eventually hounded down an alley by the group, believing him to be the perpetrator against Worden’s daughter. He was shot twice by another co-defendant, John T.R. Hoffer, 29, who was the first sentenced when he received 27 years in July 2025.
“This behavior, street vengeance behavior, is totally unacceptable in this community,” said Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Litle on Aug. 11. “This is exactly what we’re trying to avoid.”
He asked for 25 years when he spoke before the Court of Common Pleas and Judge Gerald Anderson II.
Defense attorney Keith Edwards also noted Worden’s “outrageous, unacceptable” behavior. “(The victim) didn’t deserve that. She accepts the punishment.”
He asked for concurrent sentences and for an 8-10 total sentence.
“I just want to apologize to the (victim), court, and community,” Worden expressed to Anderson. She said she snapped and started acting on impulse, she told the court, especially as a mother whose daughter had been involved.
“You were about to kill someone,” Anderson responded.
“I wanted to hurt him, not kill him,” Worden said of the intended target.
“It could’ve been anyone. That’s why taking the law into your own hands is so dangerous. That’s about as scary of a situation we can imagine in the community,” Anderson mentioned.
He also presided over the four other co-defendants and their sentencings Aug. 11, including Jamie Jarrett, Kayla Hargraves, Adam Johnson-Larimer, and Christopher Johnson Emmons.
Jarrett, 45, of Zanesville, was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder, a second-degree felony, in March. He provided usage of his vehicle, doing pickups and dropoffs, and procured the shotgun.
His attorney, Christopher Signil, asked for a lighter sentence since Jarrett didn’t organize or encourage the group.
“You didn’t stop it from happening. You contributed to it,” Anderson said.
Hargraves, 39, of Zanesville, was given 15 years, which could extend as long as 19. She pleaded guilty to three felonies in July, including attempted aggravated burglary, second degree, felonious assault, second degree, and discharge of a firearm near a prohibited premises, third degree.
“She’s not a tangential player,” Litle noted. Hargraves, acting as the driver during the manhunt, stopped and started two times, allowing Hoffer to fire the gun. She was also the first person involved by telling Worden of the sexual assault against her daughter.
Kayla Hargraves, who drove around the eventual shooter in an manhunt from December 2024, received 15 years, and up to 19, when she went before the Court of Common Pleas on Aug. 11. She was one of five that received sentencing that day for the same incident.
Johnson-Larimer, 27, of Roseville, received three years, and up 4.5, for the two felonies he pleaded to in April, attempted burglary, third degree, and felonious assault, second degree.
He had a lesser degree of culpability, comparatively, but was still a participant, Litle stated.
Johnson-Larimer’s role was largely managing communication between all the parties. He, through defense attorney Chris Brigdon, told the court that he didn’t think someone would be shot and at times felt scared and manipulated.
Adam Johnson-Larimer was one of the seven total participants involved in a manhunt-turned-accidental shooting in December 2024. Johnson-Larimer, who was sentenced Aug. 11, played a more minimal role by facilitating communication between the other group members.
Johnson Emmons, 30, of Zanesville, pleaded guilty in April to obstructing justice and tampering with evidence, both third-degree felonies, and was given three years of community control (probation).
He has the weakest connection toward the harm of the victim and the least amount of culpability, Litle explained, but he still facilitated the shooting by driving around other conspirators.
“Anytime someone is shot, prison time is appropriate for everyone involved,” he added.
Johnson Emmons’s attorney, Mark Kaido, alleged that his client didn’t have knowledge of what would happen. He wasn’t expecting any harm to befall, Kaido added.
Christopher Johnson Emmons was one of five defendants to go before Judge Gerald Anderson II on Aug 11. They were all involved in a vengeful manhunt from December 2024, where one participant accidentally shot the wrong person looking for someone else.
Lastly, Jackson Clapper, 25, accused of supplying the shooting’s shotgun, wasn’t on the Aug. 11 docket. He, a Zanesville resident, pleaded guilty on June 16 to attempted felonious assault, a third-degree felony, and an unlawful weapon transaction, a fourth-degree felony.
His sentencing has yet to be scheduled.
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Shawn Digity is a reporter for the Zanesville Times Recorder. He can be emailed at sdigity@gannett.com or found on X at @ShawnDigityZTR.
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Five sentenced after vigilante mob shoots wrong person