On May 28, 2024, at about 10:45 p.m., Columbus police responded to a reported shooting in the 1000 block of Parsons Avenue near East Whittier Street, close to Merion Village. Officers found 36-year-old Joshua Hunt with at least one gunshot wound; medics pronounced him dead at 10:51 p.m. The circumstances leading up to the shooting remain under investigation.

Columbus authorities arrested 34-year-old Michael Houston in connection with Hunt’s death; Houston was charged with murder and held in the Franklin County Jail. The city attorney noted ongoing efforts since March with local businesses, the transit authority, and neighborhood groups to develop safety plans for the area where the incident occurred.

In a related development, Hunt had been arrested in April 2024 in the death of 61-year-old Dwayne Dowdell, who was found unconscious and bleeding from the head at Parsons Avenue and East Whittier Street on March 29 and died the next day; Hunt faced an involuntary manslaughter charge and was held on $1 million bond. Anyone with information about either incident is asked to contact the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477.