No arrests yet in 2 killings hours apart

Columbus police continue to investigate two separate shootings Monday night that left two men dead.

The first shooting happened just after 8 p.m. Monday. Neighbors called 911, reporting they heard about five to six shots.

Callers saw two men, wearing all black, fire into a side door of a residence in the 1000 block of Kelton Avenue in the Driving Park neighborhood.

Gerald S. Talley, 63, was found mortally wounded inside. He was pronounced dead by medics at 8:22 p.m.

“We don’t have anything,” said Sgt. Stan Latta, who oversees the second-shift Columbus police homicide unit, when asked about a motive. He said detectives continue to follow up leads.

One woman, who lived nearby and called 911, said Talley owned a few homes on that street. Records show he used to work as an intervention aide at Columbus City Schools.

“I don’t know what happened — some dummies trying to rob him or something,” said the woman, who declined to give her name out of fear. “He’s a good person. He didn’t deserve that.”

A police officer on guard duty found a shell casing near the rear of the residence Tuesday. It’s unclear whether it’s from the same shooting, Latta said.

Homicide detectives were called to a second homicide nearly three hours later Monday in North Linden. There were reports of about eight shots fired in the 1700 block of Huy Road.

Rashawn Deante Hill, 26, was shot and killed in front of a few duplexes on the north side of Huy Road about a block west of Cleveland Avenue.

A woman who called 911 said his girlfriend lived at a residence there. Another 911 caller said the victim was shot multiple times.

Responding medics pronounced Hill dead at the scene at 10:56 p.m. Monday.

So far this year, the city has had 48 homicides. At the same time last year, there were 32 homicides.

Anyone with information is asked to call Columbus police at 614-645-4730.