Woman killed in domestic dispute, suspect in custody
As bundled-up children were being walked to school in the cold Wednesday morning by parents in Franklinton, they were being hustled past yellow tape and flashing cruiser lights from Columbus police investigating the city's latest homicide.
Columbus police Sgt. Eric Pilya said the 911 dispatch center received a call at 8:03 a.m. Wednesday reporting a person was shot on the 100 block of Brehl Avenue, just north of the intersection of Brehl Avenue and Town Street.
When responding officers arrived, they found 25-year-old Courtney Prestidge lying on the floor inside the left side of a white duplex house with blue trim. A pink child's playset sat on the front porch.
Prestidge, who had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, was pronounced dead at the scene by medics at 8:12 a.m., Pilya said.
A short time later, a suspect, identified by police as the woman's boyfriend, turned himself in to a police officer in a cruiser near the intersection of West Broad Street and Central Avenue, police said.
The suspect was identified by police as Ramarian Clark, 18, of the West Side.
Pilya said a weapon was recovered and Clark has been charged with murder in the case. He is being held at the Franklin County jail.
The crime scene was located directly across the street from the former Starling Middle School, and a block away from the current middle school.
One neighbor, who did not want to give her name, said her son had told her there were police cars outside while she was getting ready to take him to school. She said she was surprised they hadn't heard anything because they frequently heard pounding on the duplex's door and guns being shot off in the alley behind the duplex.
The neighbor said she suspected there was drug activity going on there because of the odd hours at which people would come and go.
As detectives continued to process the scene, Prestidge's family arrived, distraught at the sight of crime scene tape surrounding her home. Prestidge's mother begged detectives to allow her to hold her daughter one final time.
A woman who identified herself as Prestidge's sister said she hoped whoever was responsible for the homicide would stay in prison for a long time.
Prestidge's death was the city's 181st homicide this year and was a dreary start to December. Police are hoping it won't be a repeat of December 2020, when there were 24 homicides reported in the city. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner