COLUMBUS – Columbus police have charged six people, including a teenager, in connection with the murder of 17-year-old Imperial Stewart, who was reported missing on Sept. 21 and whose body was reportedly found in a wooded area on the Northeast Side.
UPDATE 10/5/23 8:34 a.m.: Michael Bowles was arrested on Oct. 4 without incident and taken to the Franklin County Jail, police announced.
#Update Michael Bowles was taken into custody shortly after 11 a.m. today by @ColumbusPolice. The 20-year-old is charged with murder in the disappearance & homicide of Imperial Stewart. Five other individuals have also been charged as a result of this ongoing investigation. https://t.co/eEsybPtUgO pic.twitter.com/UvlI4YpSl7
— Columbus Division of Police (@ColumbusPolice) October 4, 2023
The family of Imperial Stewart told WBNS 10-TV that the teen’s body was found in a wooded area near the intersection of Sunbury and Agler roads on the city’s northeast side.
Stewart was last seen in the area of Cleveland Avenue and Huy Road on Sept. 20 and, believing him to be missing under suspicious circumstances, the Missing Persons Unit asked the Homicide Unit to assist, Sgt. Edward Powell III of the Homicide Unit said.
After interviewing several individuals they believed had information related to Stewart’s disappearance, detectives charged Michael Bowles, 20, and 16-y/o Russell Hargrove-Madison with murder and four other people with lesser charges, Powell said.
Police have charged Mi’quel Bowles, 18, and 40-year-old Tywisha Peterson with obstructing Justice. Genee Dumas, 39, and Samiya Proctor, 17 have been charged with tampering with evidence, obstructing official business and resisting arrest (see above), Powell said.
According to Franklin County Municipal Court documents, Stewart was in a vehicle with a 16-year-old boy on Sept. 20 when they tried to rob Stewart of a gun he just bought from Bowles and Bowles shot Stewart during a struggle, the television station reported.
Police told the television station that Peterson allegedly took part in a conversation on how to get rid of the vehicle used in the possible murder, which was later found burned in Fairfield County.
According to the television report, court records say that Dumas was seen by multiple officers attempting to tamper with evidence by smashing her phone.
Suspects arrested in AutoZone robbery-murder
Two Columbus men are in jail in Delaware County, charged in connection with the murder of a man during a robbery at an AutoZone store on the Far North Side in August.
Zackeyis Davis, 22, was charged with aggravated murder and 28-year-old Darius Wynn was charged with murder in the death of Alejandro Fajardo-Torres, 43, at the business in the 8300 block of Sancus Boulevard on August 24, Sgt. Michael Smith of the Columbus police Homicide Unit said.
Both men were arrested and taken to the Delaware County Jail.
Fajardo-Torres was found suffering from gunshot wounds by officers responding to a reported shooting.
An 18-year-old was suffered from blunt-force trauma injury and was taken to a local hospital in stable condition, Smith said.