COLUMBUS – Four Christmas Day homicides, including a double shooting and a man deliberately run down in a Southwest Side intersection, raised the total number of murders in Columbus in 2015 to 96.
Two men were shot to death early Christmas morning during an apparent robbery in a Southeast Side apartment complex.
Officers were called to the area of 2231 Courtside Drive just before 4:00 a.m. on a report of a robbery in progress and shots fired. They found Victor Mendez Paredes, 21, and Sayuri Casas Yerena, 18, inside a vehicle, critically injured from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds, Sgt. Jeffrey Strayer said. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
There were no reports of arrests and the investigation continues.
A few minutes earlier, Strayer says officers responding to a reported shooting in the 100 block of Innis Avenue found Johnathon Foster critically injured from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds. The 31-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.
At approximately 10:13 PM, officers called to the intersection of Whitehead Road and S. Richardson Avenue on a report that a pedestrian had been struck by a hit-skip driver found Houng Lamngeun, 32, critically injured. Strayer says eyewitness accounts indicate “the actions of the driver were purposeful and malicious.“ Lamngeun died early on Saturday morning at Mt. Carmel West Hospital.
Anyone with information on these incidents are encouraged to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Crime Stoppers at 614-645-TIPS (8477).
A 21-year-old man stabbed during an argument on Wednesday afternoon died on Saturday, becoming the 96th homicide victim of the year.
During a fight in the street at the intersection of Briggs Road and Binns Boulevard on the Southwest Side at approximately 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nicholas Kean, 20, allegedly pulled a knife and stabbed John Barnett, Homicide Unit investigators said.
Kean fled the scene while Barnett, 21, underwent extensive surgery at a nearby hospital.
A warrant for felonious assault was issued for Kean, who surrendered on Thursday.
When Barnett died on Saturday, the charge was upgraded to murder.