A Columbus man charged in a fatal Memorial Day shooting that took place near an elementary school was arrested June 24 by U.S. Marshals in Virginia, according to the U.S. Marshals Service for the Southern District of Ohio.
Rawmarial Lawrence, 20, of the Near East Side was charged with murder in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Rashod Leonard. Columbus police found Leonard shot around 2 a.m. May 25 on the 400 block of South 22nd Street in the Olde Towne East neighborhood, across the street from Ohio Avenue Elementary School.
Leonard was transported in critical condition to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:25 a.m. A warrant was filed for Lawrence’s arrest on May 27.
The U.S. Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team [SOFAST] took over the investigation and learned that Lawrence had fled the area. Investigators with SOFAST passed information along to the U.S. Marshals Service Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, who then tracked Lawrence to an apartment in the 200 block of Crestview Way in Fredericksburg, Virginia, according to a marshals news release.
Lawrence attempted to flee again by breaking a window in the apartment, but was apprehended and taken into custody, according to the release.
Lawrence is currently in jail in Virginia. He will later be extradited to Columbus to face charges.
“The United States Marshals Service leads violent fugitive task forces across the country,” said Michael Black, U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio. “This allows us to assist our state and local law enforcement partners by quickly apprehending suspects regardless of where they may run. After determining the fugitive’s location, our investigators were able to quickly coordinate the arrest of this suspect with our USMS partners in Virginia.”
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus murder suspect caught by U.S. Marshals in Virginia
Reporting by Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Shahid Meighan, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
