COLUMBUS, Ohio — A man is charged with murder after police say he admitted to shooting another man and setting him on fire inside a vehicle in northeast Columbus on Friday, according to court records.
Records from Franklin County Municipal Court state that at 12:41 a.m., police were called to an alley in the 1700 block of Weldon Avenue near Cleveland Avenue for a possible robbery.
Twenty-seven-year-old William Gray and a woman called dispatchers around 12:35 am. and told them that they were robbed at gunpoint and the suspect stole a Jeep Patriot, according to court records.
Officers found a Jeep Patriot that was on fire in the alley by Weldon Avenue. After the Columbus Division of Fire extinguished the fire, police found 21-year-old Marcus Taylor in the back seat. He was pronounced dead at 12:56 a.m.
Detectives identified the owner of the Jeep and found her and Gray at a home in the 2900 block of Cleveland Avenue.
Court records say police interviewed Gray, who admitted to shooting Taylor while they were sitting in the Jeep. Gray also said that he and the woman then drove the Jeep to the alley, and used a lighter to set the Jeep on fire with Taylor in the backseat.
Gray also told police that he and the man knew each other, according to court records, but details about their relationship were not provided.
Gray is scheduled to appear in Franklin County Municipal Court on Saturday.