Franklinton man held in fatal March 16 shooting

Columbus Police SWAT officers have arrested a man wanted in the shooting of two women, one fatally, in the early hours of March 16.

Erich O. Barbee II, 30, was arrested Wednesday on an outstanding warrant after police charged him last week with murder and felonious assault.

Barbee is accused of fatally shooting one woman and severely wounding another at a home in Franklinton.

Police were called to a reported shooting around 3 a.m. March 16 on the 40 block of Rodgers Avenue near West Gay Street in Franklinton on the city’s West Side.

Responding officers found Marissa Marie Saultz, 44, with gunshot wounds, and she was officially pronounced dead at the scene at 3:10 a.m. by medics.

Officers also found a 29-year-old woman on on the roof of the house with multiple gunshot wounds, according to a probable cause affidavit in Franklin County Municipal Court. She was transported in critical condition to Ohiohealth Grant Medical Center, where she was later upgraded to stable condition.

A child was also at the home but unharmed, police said.

Witnesses who detectives interviewed and other information they gathered indicated that Barbee was the suspected shooter who had fled the scene prior to officers’ arrival, according to the affidavit.

Court records indicate Barbee’s last known address was on the 700 block of Bellows Avenue in Franklinton.

Anyone with information or knowledge about Barbee’s whereabouts or actions since March 16 is asked to call the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477.

A visitation for Saultz is scheduled for Monday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wayne T. Lee Funeral Service.

Dispatch Reporter Eric Lagatta contributed to this reporting.