Four men have been sentenced to at least 58 years in prison combined for their roles in thefatal shooting of 17-year-old Imperial Stewart,whose body was found more than three years ago in a wooded area on Columbus' Northeast Side, the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office announced Oct. 16.
Michael T. Bowles, 23; his younger brother, Mi'Quel Bowles, 21;, and Russel Hargrove-Madison, 19, all previously pleaded guilty in connection with Stewart's death and were sentenced on Oct. 16.
Michael T. Bowles was sentenced to between 30 and 35½ years in prison for his Sept. 29 guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter with a 3-year firearm specification, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence, gross abuse of a corpse, and possessing weapons while under
disability, meaning he was not allowed to own or possess a firearm due to a prior felony conviction or for other legal reasonse, the prosecutor's office said.
Mi'Quel Bowles also pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 to involuntary manslaughter with a three-year firearm specification. He was sentenced to 12 to 16½ years in prison.
Hargrove-Madison pleaded guilty Oct. 5 to involuntary manslaughter and aggravated robbery, with both convictions carrying a three-year firearm specification. He was sentenced to 16 to 19½ years in prison.
A fourth person, Michael R. Bowles Jr., 39, an uncle to the Bowles brothers, pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in December 2023 and was also sentenced on Oct. 16 to 60 days in the Franklin County jail followed by two years of community control, also known as probation.
What happened in the Imperial Stewart case?
In September 2023, the three defendants picked up Stewart from his home on Columbus' Far East Side. During the outing, Michael T. Bowles, who owed his brother Mi'Quel money for a car payment, decided to rob Stewart, according to the prosecutor's office.
After stopping at a shoe store and gas station, Stewart tried to purchase a gun and transferred $240 to Michael's CashApp account, the prosecutor's office said. After transferring the money, Hargrove-Madison grabbed the gun back, and a struggle ensued. At that point, Michael shot Stewart in the chest, and the bullet also struck Mi'Quel in the backseat of the vehicle they were in.
After the shooting, Michael dropped off Mi'Quel at a home on Dawson Avenue on the city's East Side, where the residents inside called 911. Michael then transported and dumped Stewart's body in a wooded area off of Agler Road. The three defendants, as well as Mi'Quel's girlfriend, helped burn the car in Hanners Park in Canal Winchester.
Mi'Quel's girlfriend, who was a juvenile at the time, pleaded guilty in January 2025 to tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice. She was sentenced in April 2025 to 15 hours of community service.
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Four Columbus men sentenced for their roles in death of Imperial Stewart
