Columbus man likely to face murder charges if victim died of injuries from April assault
Columbus police homicide detectives are investigating, but a suspect accused of severely beating another man in April on the city's Southeast Side would likely face murder charges if it is determined the victim died last week from injuries sustained in the incident.
Derek Darnell Jackson, 56, whose address is listed on a news release as the streets of Columbus, was charged with felonious assault, accused in the April 15 beating of 36-year-old Eugene M. McGuire, of the city's Franklinton neighborhood. Jackson was arrested by Columbus police on May 9 and taken to the Franklin County jail.
A probable cause affidavit states that Columbus police were responding to a report of an assault at 2:30 p.m. April 15 in the 4600 block of Refugee Road. Responding officers reported finding McGuire suffering from a head injury, lying in a pool of blood and suffering from what they believe was a seizure as a result of the assault.
Columbus Division of Fire medics arrived and transported McGuire to Mount Carmel East Hospital in critical condition, where he was rushed into surgery for bleeding in his brain, police said.
McGuire was pronounced dead on May 15 at 6:55 a.m., according to a police media release.
An autopsy by the Franklin County Coroner's Office will determine if McGuire's death was the result of the injuries sustained in the assault. If so, Columbus police will seek to charge Jackson with the homicide. The lead homicide detective on the case and a spokesman for the coroner's office could not immediately be reached Wednesday afternoon to confirm McGuire's cause and manner of death.
Homicide detectives reported in court records that they interviewed witnesses who were at the scene of the assault and those witnesses accused Jackson of kicking and stomping McGuire during an altercation. Detectives also conducted a photo lineup, records state, and the witnesses allegedly positively identified Jackson as the suspect.
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Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Columbus police homicide Detective Billie Camp-Donovan at (614) 645-2557, the Columbus police Homicide Unit at (614) 645- 4730, or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS (8477). Detective Camp-Donovan is being assisted by Detective Mautez Fulton of the police division's Felony Assault Unit.
@ShahidMeighan
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Eugene McGuire case: Columbus man could be facing murder charge
