COLUMBUS – Columbus police are looking for a man witnesses say fled the scene of a fatal shooting Wednesday morning in a waiting SUV.
The death of Marquiez Lawrence was one of three reported homicides in a 24-hour period in Columbus, bringing the total number for the year in Columbus to 30.
The number of homicides in first nine months of 2020 was more than 40% higher than the number reported the year before, according to Franklin County Coroner Dr. Anahi Ortiz.
There were 132 homicides in the city from January through September 2020, compared to 94 the year before. There were a record 174 homicides in Columbus last year.
According to the report from Ortiz’s office, nearly 90%o of the victims in the first nine months of 2020 were male, 75% were Black and the area of the city which has seen the most homicides in the last two years is the Northeast Side where 28 people were slain.
Officers found the 25-year-old Lawrence suffering from multiple gunshot wounds at a condominium on Ketch Run on the East Side just after at 10:20 a.m. and died later at an area hospital, Homicide Unit Sgt. Eric Pilya said.
According to Pilya, witnesses told police a man fired shots at Lawrence before getting in the passenger side of a black Chrysler 300 and fleeing east then south through the apartment complex.
Anyone with information regarding this incident, is asked to call Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS (8477).
A 23-year-old man is under arrest on a murder charge in the shooting death of another man during a fight inside an East Side apartment building early Thursday.
UPDATE 2/22/21 7:38 a.m.: This article has been updated to include the name of the victim
Melly Mel Marquise Smith, 27, was found in a stairwell inside the building at 1944 Fountainview Court by officers responding to a report of a shooting at 1:09 a.m., Sgt. David Shimberg said. The man died later at an area hospital.
A suspect, identified as Amir Elkhabiry (right), was located in the area by patrol officers and taken into custody, Shimberg said.
This incident is still under investigation.
UPDATE 2/19/21 6:32 a.m.: This article has been updated with information an additional homicide on Feb. 18.
A Grove City man was charged with the stabbing death of a 22-year-old woman early Thursday morning.
Officers responding to a reported stabbing in a home on White Spruce Lane in Grove City at 3:45 a.m. took the resident into custody and located the victim suffering from stab wounds, Shimberg said.
The woman, whose name was not released because her family had not been notified, died later at Doctors West Hospital.
Austin Travis Wray, 24, is charged with murder for allegedly attacking the woman but police did not know the reason for the attack, Shimberg said.