20-year- old charged in 2 killings
A man who police say is a gang member has been charged with murder in two Columbus homicides that occurred on back-to-back days this month.
Police charged Darnell D. Vinson, who they say is a member of the Bomb Squad, this week. The gang, which formed around 2012 or 2013, is active on the South and East sides, police say.
Two sources with knowledge of the cases told The Dispatch that Vinson, 20, also is suspected in other homicides.
As the city continued to edge closer to hitting a
record-breaking number of killings in a single year, Police Chief Kim Jacobs held a news conference a few weeks ago calling for peace.
As of late Friday night, there has been 137 Columbus slayings in 2017. The record was set in 1991 with 139 homicides. Jacobs told reporters that a significant number of the slayings are tied to gangs and drugs.
Vinson, who has prior drug arrests, confessed to police in one case earlier this month and was identified by a witness in another case, according to court records.
Investigators believe that Vinson is responsible for the killing of Kieara Ka’Torence Charnele Hobbs, 26, during a Dec. 10 shooting at the Exhale Hookah Lounge, 2044 Lockbourne Road, on the city’s South Side.
When officers arrived at the lounge, they found Hobbs dead on the floor. Two other men, Latrell Joseph Earl Davis, 27, and Christopher Leandru Deshaun Bivens, also 27, suffered gunshot wounds to the head, face and back. Vinson was charged Thursday with one count of murder and two counts of felonious assault.
A witness came forward to identify Vinson from a photo lineup as the gunman who shot all three at the lounge, according to Franklin County Municipal Court records.
Court records also say that Vinson is accused of shooting and killing Brandon Meeks, 29, who police say wasa Deuce Deuce Blood gang member. That shooting occurred on Dec. 11 inside a home in the 200 block of Barthman Avenue on the South Side. Vinson was charged Wednesday with one count of murder in that case.
Vinson was caught by police after Meeks’ shooting when he jumped from a second-story window of the Barthman Avenue home. He suffered a broken leg when he landed, sources confirmed.
Two days later, there was another fatal shooting at the Barthman Avenue home as family and friends held a vigil for Meeks outside. Chaz A. Robertson, 32, who was believed to be a gang member, died in that shooting, and three other people, including a 9-year-old girl, were injured.
Records show Vinson told officers, and later an investigator in an interview, that he shot Meeks.
Vinson, whose last known address was on the South Side, was booked at the Franklin County jail Thursday. A preliminary court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 29.