On May 12, 2025, at approximately 5:27 PM, Columbus Police officers responded to a reported shooting in the first block of South Princeton Avenue. Upon arrival, officers discovered Richard Murphy, a 19-year-old Black male, unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency medical personnel transported Murphy to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased at 6:02 PM.
Authorities notified his next of kin, and an investigation was immediately launched to determine the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting.
According to law enforcement reports, the incident involved three armed individuals who confronted Murphy just before the shooting. The confrontation escalated, resulting in Murphy being shot multiple times. One of the suspects, identified as 18-year-old Joseph Johnson, has been charged with murder in connection with the case. Johnson was identified through a photo lineup, and police are actively searching for two additional suspects believed to have participated in the crime. As of May 13, Johnson had not yet been apprehended, and authorities had not disclosed whether warrants had been issued for the other two suspects.
Murphy, a resident of Columbus, lived less than a block away from the location where he was fatally shot. Johnson, the charged suspect, resided two streets away on Dana Avenue. The Columbus Police Department continues to investigate the motive behind the shooting and is urging anyone with information to come forward. Detectives Camp-Donovan and Egelhoff are leading the investigation, and tips can be provided to the Columbus Police Homicide Unit or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers.
