'They were laughing': Witnesses to deadly Kroger assault share tragic moments

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Friends of a man who died after being brutally beaten in front of a south Columbus supermarket now speaking out about the crime that took the life of a father of three.

It's horrible -- there's not any words you can say," said Seth, who asked not to be identified when he talked to ABC 6 about the assault that took the life of his friend.

53-year-old Donnie Smith died on Monday after he was kicked and punched, police say, by three teens. They engaged him in an altercation inside a Kroger on Dec. 6 at the Great Southern Shopping Center.

Seth was by Smith's side when he lay injured in the parking lot outside the store, just minutes after being kicked and punched.

I said his name, let him know I was there," said Seth, "let him know he was okay. He was unconscious."

Seth and Smith were shopping with a third friend, Brandon, who said Donnie was confronted by a group of teens.

Teenagers were in the Kroger, trying to pick on whoever they could," said Brandon.

Police say that, after the altercation in the store, security requested for the three teens to leave the business.

18-year-old Dionta Davon Hughes, 19-year-old Jamarion Fredrae Evans-Bennett,and a 17-year-old boy were charged with murder and arrested by Columbus police on Wednesday.

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Charging documents for the teens accuse them of waiting outside the store for Smith. He was unconscious and bleeding from the head due to the beating.

A witness, according to the documents, told police the group was "laughing and enjoying themselves" while assaulting Smith.

In the initial police report, officers said:

Three men engaged in an altercation with patrons inside the location. As a result, the suspects were asked to leave by security. Once outside, a physical altercation ensued between three males and the victim."

They were laughing the whole time they were doing it," said Brandon.

Hughes and Evans-Bennett are now locked up in the Franklin County jail on one million dollars bond. The juvenile is in the county detention center until a hearing will be held Friday to determine if he should be released to his parents, and to discuss if the juvenile should be bound over to be tried as an adult.

Smith was a father of three, including a 15-year-old son and six-year-old daughter. He died nearly two weeks after the violent assault from head injuries he received in the attack.

Sickening, very sickening," said Brandon. "A simple trip to the grocery store turned into all that."