A Reynoldsburg man has been charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting that Columbus police say stemmed from an attempted vehicle theft in May on the city's Northeast Side.
Just before 4:15 a.m. May 20, Columbus police officers responded to the 4000 block of Migration Lane on a report of a shooting, police said at the time. On arrival, they found 22-year-old Samir Mayes suffering from a gunshot wound, and a female who had minor injuries in connection with the shooting. Mayes was transported to Mount Carmel East Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:55 a.m., police said.
According to homicide detectives, several suspects, including 22-year-old Amari Cross, were trying to steal the female's vehicle when she and Mayes stepped onto
the balcony and spotted them. At that point, the suspects began shooting at them and struck Mayes, according to a criminal complaint filed by city homicide detectives. The suspects fled the scene after the shooting.
After reviewing video footage, detectives identified the vehicle that the suspects fled in as a Toyota Rav4 that was stolen a couple of hours before the shooting in Groveport, detectives said in the criminal complaint. The Toyota was later recovered in South Linden that same day, and surveillance footage captured the suspects walking away from the Toyota after abandoning it.
After securing search warrants for three cellular towers, detectives found that Cross' phone was in the same location in South Linden, Groveport, and on Columbus' Northeast Side at the same time the crimes were committed. Police also found a device used to break windows that had Cross' DNA on it, according to the complaint.
Cross was arrested by a Columbus police SWAT team on Oct. 26 without incident, police said. He is currently in custody at the Franklin County jail.
Samir Mayes was known for having a passion for cars, particularly antique classics and high-performance vehicles, according to his obituary. He graduated from Beechcroft High School in 2022 and had one daughter.
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: Police charge suspect in May homicide linked to attempted car theft
