Murder charge likely for man after man shot last year dies

A Columbus man expected to face murder charges after Franklin County Coroner's office rules that a man he shot last year ultimately died of injuries from the shooting.

Tyrek Mcclain, 18, of the city's South Side, is currently facing charges of attempted murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence in the Oct. 27 shooting of 18-year-old Rahsaan Jackson on Columbus' South Side.

However, Jackson died on Jan. 18, and the Franklin County Coroner's Office ruled in an autopsy April 4 that the cause of death was the gunshot injuries he had sustained and the manner of death was homicide, police said in a release. Homicide detectives have taken over the investigation, and the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing the case to determine upgraded charges, expected to include murder.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed by police, Columbus police were called just after 5:22 p.m. on Oct. 27 to the 500 block of Cline Street on a report of a shooting. Responding officers found Jackson with a gunshot wound to the neck.

Jackson was transported to Ohiohealth Grant Hospital, Downtown, in critical condition, but police initially reported that he was expected to survive his injuries.

Witnesses at the scene told officers that the shooter, later identified as Mcclain, fled on foot to a house in the 700 block of Thurman Avenue. Police detained multiple people in the home and questioned them at headquarters, where Mcclain eventually admitted to shooting Jackson and tossing the gun in an alley on Thurman Avenue, the affidavit states. smeighan@dispatch.com @Shahidmeighan