Quisi Bryan (born October 2, 1970) is an American man convicted of murdering Cleveland police officer Wayne Leon during a traffic stop in 2000. Bryan is on

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...

in Ohio and is scheduled to be executed on November 15, 2028.

Crimes

On June 25, 2000,

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

Wayne Leon pulled Bryan over for a traffic violation at a gas station in the Central neighborhood of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

at E. 40th St. and Community College Boulevard. Bryan shot Leon in the face, killing him instantly.

Legal proceedings

Bryan was found guilty of murdering Leon and was subsequently sentenced to

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

. In 2015, federal public defenders Lori Riga and Alan Rossman represented Bryan on an appeal to the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (in case citations, N.D. Ohio) is the federal trial court for the northern half of Ohio, encompassing most territories north of the city of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The court has courthou ...

. Judge James G. Carr overturned Bryan's case because prosecutors improperly tried to remove a prospective black juror from Bryan's trial because of her race. The

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (in case citations, 6th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * Eastern District of Kentucky * Western District of K ...

reversed Carr's decision 2-1 in December 2016, ruling that the Toledo federal judge "improperly substituted its interpretation of the evidence for the findings of the trial judge." The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

declined to hear a challenge to the Sixth Circuit's decision. Bryan was scheduled to be executed on October 26, 2022, at the

Southern Ohio Correctional Facility The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (commonly referred to as Lucasville) is a maximum security prison located just outside Lucasville in Scioto County, Ohio. The prison was constructed in 1972. As of 2023, the warden is Cindy Davis. The p ...

. On June 24, 2022, Bryan's execution was delayed to January 7, 2026. On June 20, 2025, his execution was once again delayed to November 15, 2028.

Sexual assaults

In 2007, Bryan pled guilty to several sexual assaults that happened prior to his 2000 crime and was sentenced to up to 48 years in prison. In April 2017, he was resentenced to 22 years in prison for the assaults after the

Ohio Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

ruled that judges in five Cuyahoga County rape cases wrongly applied sentences to the law at the time the crime occurred. In 2014, Bryan was convicted of raping and kidnapping a woman on March 15, 1994, by the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. The jury found Bryan not guilty on a second count of rape against the same woman that stemmed from the same incident. Judge David Matia sentenced Bryan to a maximum of 50 years in prison. Bryan was charged with the crime after the woman's rape kit was tested and Bryan's DNA matched. The victim testified at trial that Bryan led her at knife point behind a vacant home on East 93rd Street in Cleveland into an abandoned car and raped her twice. She stated that Bryan threatened to kill her if she did not cooperate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Quisi Living people 1970 births 2000 murders in the United States American male criminals American people convicted of murdering police officers American people convicted of attempted murder American people convicted of kidnapping American people convicted of rape American prisoners sentenced to death 20th-century American criminals 21st-century American criminals People convicted of murder by Ohio Prisoners sentenced to death by Ohio 2000 in Ohio

Crimes

Legal proceedings

Sexual assaults

See also

References