Suspect in slayings of mom, 4-year-old put in jail
A Columbus man accused of killing his young daughter and her mother last week was booked into the Franklin County jail Monday night after being treated at a local hospital for injuries he sustained during the stabbing attack, Columbus police said.
Kristofer Garrett, 24, left a trail of blood after cutting his hand with the knife he used in the killings, according to court records filed by Columbus police.
Garrett is accused of waiting for his 4-year-old daughter, Kristina, to exit a Southeast Side home along with her mother, 34-year-old Nicole Duckson, about 6:30 a.m. Friday. He attacked them with “an edged weapon,” according to court records.
Snow was still on the ground and temperatures were in single digits as Garrett left the pair bleeding and fled from the backyard of the house in the 2700 block of Fleet Road, according to Columbus police.
SWAT members were looking for Garrett in a matter of hours. Police stopped him for driving under suspension and having no operator’s license Friday on the Far East Side near his residence near Chatford Drive and Lake Club Drive, according to records. Officers took him into custody.
Columbus police credited Duckson’s family with helping catch Garrett.
“Thank you to Duckson’s family for working with police. Their assistance led SWAT officers to arrest Garrett,” according to a police Facebook post.
When Garrett was stopped by police, he admitted he had been at Duckson’s home and had cut his hand there.
The wound to Garrett’s hand was severe enough that he was taken to a hospital for treatment and recovery. He was booked into the jail Monday night and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday on murder charges in the deaths of his daughter and her mother.
The city had a recordbreaking number of homicides in 2017 with 143 deaths. As of Monday, the city had six homicides just eight days into the new year. Half of those have been domestic-related deaths. At the same time last year, there were three homicides.