COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two men are charged with murder in connection to the death of a Maryland man whose body was discovered in the trunk of a vehicle near Hilliard earlier this year.
On Jan. 23, detectives with the Columbus Division of Police were searching for a missing person when they found an abandoned rental vehicle on Hilliard Rome Road. Police found that the vehicle had been rented to 44-year-old Hajid Jordan, a man who was missing from the Washington D.C. area.
Jordan was found dead inside the trunk of the vehicle with apparent gunshot wounds, according to records from Franklin County Municipal Court. Records also stated that he also had plastic bags covering his head and feet.
The plastic bags were brought into the Columbus Police Crime Lab for analysis where authorities found fingerprints that reportedly matched those of 24-year-old Tajuan Antonio Smith.
A continued investigation revealed that Jordan, Smith and 44-year-old William Robertson were at Robertson’s home on East North Broadway in North Linden on Jan. 13 when an argument began.
Court records state that the argument escalated, and Smith and Robertson fired several shots at Jordan, killing him. Jordan was then placed in the trunk of the rented vehicle and taken to 50 Volney Avenue where it was left abandoned.
Smith was arrested on March 28 and was charged with tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. The charges were dismissed on April 7.
On Wednesday, Columbus police issued arrest warrants for Smith and Robertson and charged them both with murder in Jordan’s death.
Robertson and Smith were taken into custody and appeared in Franklin County Municipal Court on Thursday. A judge set a $2 million bond for Robertson and a $3 million bond for Smith.