Suspect in fatal May 14 shooting now in custody

A Columbus man wanted on a murder warrant for the fatal shooting of another man in May in the Short North is now in custody in the Franklin County jail.

Quran Boston, 19, was arrested late Tuesday afternoon in the 1400 block of East Hudson Street in Linden without incident by the U.S. Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (SOFAST), with assistance from the Ohio State Highway Patrol Special Response Team (SRT).

Boston, who had resided on the city's West Side at the time, is accused of fatally shooting Arthur Pickens, 21, on May 14 on the 900 block of North High Street, city homicide detectives said.

Police responding just before 2:45 a.m. May 14 to a report of a fight in the area of North High Street and East 1st Avenue heard gunfire. Officers found Pickens lying in front of a bar in the 900 block of North High with a gunshot wound.

He was transported to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, where he died at 3:07 a.m., police said.

Homicide detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Boston just days after the shooting, which was the second weekend in a row of gun violence in the popular Short North, and prompted increased city police presence there for several weeks. Mayor Andrew Ginther called for businesses there to close early on the weekends, but that request was ignored by most businesses.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Columbus police Homicide Unit at (614) 645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at (614) 461-TIPS (8477).

jwilhelm@dispatch.com