COLUMBUS – A man is facing child endangering charges after a five-year-old boy shot himself in the head and a woman who died seven months after she was shot has become the 106th homicide of 2022 in Columbus.
Tyonte Rakim Diggs, 24, was charged with child endangering after the boy shot himself in the1600 block of Kenmore Road on Sunday October 2, Det. Andre Edwards of the Columbus police Special Victims Bureau Abuse Unit said.
The child was taken to Nationwide Children’s in critical condition but was later upgraded to stable.
The Franklin County Coroner’s office ruled on Sept. 27 that Elizabeth Brice’s death was a homicide, the 106th of the year in Columbus,
Brice, 27, was found lying in a garage in the 100 block of N. Harris Avenue on March 26 and was taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center where she was treated for a gunshot wound and died on Sept. 26., Jones said.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).
Revenge for drug overdose believed to be motive in slaying
Police believe the death of a woman from a drug overdose prompted a relative and several other men to seek out and murder the man they believed sold the drugs to Lithasa Streeter, Powell said.
Investigators believe that Rayshawn Rogers and other family members and friends suspected that Mario Copeland sold the drugs to Streeter that led to her death and confronted him in an alley in the 1200 block of E. Hudson Street on Sept. 23, where the 38-year-old Copeland was shot to death, Powell said.
Rogers, 31, Christian Capers, 34, and Damon Capers, 35, have been charged with the Copeland’s murder and Powell says there are three additional persons of interest that detectives would like to interview regarding the incident.
WANTED FOR MURDER–NEED TO GET ID'S:
Rayshawn Rogers, Christian & Damon Capers are wanted for murder. Need to id 3 other persons of interest.
It’s believed the suspects killed Mario Copeland 9/23/22 in retaliation for the death of Rogers’ sister who died of an apparent od 9/23. pic.twitter.com/PTFFiZH6nS
— Columbus Division of Police (@ColumbusPolice) October 4, 2022
Anyone with information on the incident or the three persons of interest is asked to call the Columbus police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477).
Anyone who witnessed Streeter’s death on Joan Place on Sept. 23 is asked to contact Det. Kelley in the Homicide Unit at 614-645-0907 or the general Homicide Unit number at 614-645-4730.
Suspects in bartender’s death jailed
Both suspects in the beating death of a bartender in the OSU campus area have been arrested are in the Franklin County Jail, police said.
Chrystian Foster, 32, and Dwayne Cummings, 28, were charged in the Sept. 5 murder of 37-year-old Gregory Coleman Jr., who died as a result of injuries suffered in the attack in the 1000 block of N. High Street on Sept. 19, Sgt. Edward Powell III of the Homicide Unit said.
Man indicted in robbery-murder
A Franklin County grand jury has indicted a 21-year-old man for fatally shooting a man during a gun battle on the streets of the Hilltop in August, Powell said.
Hussein Bilal was in the Franklin County Jail after being indicted on Sept. 22 for the murder of Miguel Arriola, shot to death during a running gun battle in the Westgate neighborhood on August 19.
Bilal was also indicted on charges of felonious assault and aggravated robbery stemming from the incident.
Officers responding to reports of two vehicles chasing and shooting at each other in the 3000 block of Wicklow Road were sent to the area of Parkside Road and S Roys Avenue where they found Miguel Arriola, 32, seated in his vehicle, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, and a 19-year-old man who was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting but was not injured, Powell said.
Man sentenced in 2 murders
Prosecutors say Trevor Sands will be 82 years old before he is eligible for parole after being sentenced on Tuesday to 46 years in prison for his role in the two separate murders.
Sands, 27, who is already serving a 15-year federal prison term for armed robbery, was sentenced to 46 years to life after being convicted on Sept. 19 in the shooting deaths of Jeannot Mendy during a robbery attempt in Canal Winchester in 2017 and Gerald Talley during a robbery attempt in Columbus the same year, according to the office of Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Gary Tyack.