HAMILTON, Ohio — Anthony Brown, the man charged in the 2022 fatal double shooting at the Fairfield Township Walmart, has pleaded guilty to murder.
Earlier this month, Butler County Common Pleas Judge Dan Haughey granted the 35-year-old Hamilton man a pro se motion to represent himself at trial. After several urgings by the judge to reconsider his motion, Haughey granted the motion.
Brown wanted to fire his public defender, his fifth in three years, calling Kirk McVay “ineffective.”
Two weeks after being permitted to represent himself, Brown decided to plead guilty to murder with a gun specification, which adds three years to a 15-year-to-life sentence. He also pleaded guilty to felonious assault, which carries a sentence range of two to eight years.
WATCH: We were there after Brown opened fire at the Walmart on Princeton Road
The other charges — aggravated murder, aggravated robbery and having weapons under disability — were dismissed.
Prosecutors were preparing for a two-week jury trial to start Monday with jury selection. Haughey planned to call in 150 potential jurors and was the fifth jury trial scheduled since 2023.
Brown entered the Walmart and shot and killed Adam Black, 35, of Hamilton, and wounded Walmart employee Eric Ruff, who was 57 at the time of the shooting. Black had recently moved to the area and learned he was going to be a father.
The shooting was captured on Walmart store cameras.
Brown is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 15.
