Richard Murphy

On the evening of May 12, 2025, gunfire erupted in the Franklinton neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, claiming the life of Richard Murphy. The 19-year-old Black man was on South Princeton Avenue when the shooting occurred. A neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, described the sound as that of an automatic weapon, saying, "it was no bang, bang, it was popopopopopop." A bullet struck the neighbor’s home, narrowly missing the people inside.

Columbus Police officers were dispatched to the 20 block of South Princeton Avenue just before 5:30 p.m. They found Richard Murphy suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Medics transported him to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center in critical condition, but he was pronounced deceased at 6:02 p.m. Witnesses told investigators they saw a car arrive on the block and three armed men get out. The men confronted Murphy, and an argument ensued just before he was shot.

In the days following the shooting, police identified 18-year-old Joseph Johnson as a suspect through a photo lineup and charged him with murder. On May 27, 2025, a Columbus Police SWAT team arrested Johnson and a 14-year-old boy also accused in the killing. The investigation continued, and on June 19, 2025, authorities arrested a third suspect, 17-year-old Hunter Munn, who was also charged with murder. Police announced that with Munn's arrest, all suspects wanted in the case were in custody.

The case against Joseph Johnson Jr. concluded the following year. Johnson, by then 19, pleaded guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. On July 28, 2026, a Franklin County Common Pleas judge sentenced him to serve 15 to 19.5 years in prison for his role in Richard Murphy's death. The case was closed with this conviction as of July 2026.