Update: Three arrested following fatal Riverwind Apartments shooting

Update: Three Columbus men were arrested following the fatal Dec. 16 apartment shooting that killed Darwyn Jaleel Taylor and seriously injured another.

Jaleel Kenyard Merritt, 20, and Jacorion Tremayne Gary, 19, were charged in connection with the incident. They both face one count each of murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and two counts of criminal attempt armed robbery.

Darecco Navlose Merritt, 25, was charged with hindering the apprehension of fugitives after police allegedly found Darecco in a Torch Hill Road residence with Jaleel Merritt and Gary. At the time, Jaleel Merritt and Gary were wanted on felony warrants related to the incident, according to police.

Police said they charged the 25-year-old suspect with hindering the apprehension of a fugitive.

Investigators said the Dec. 16 shooting was the result of an attempted armed robbery.

According to police, Taylor drove his 24-year-old godbrother to the Riverland Apartments, so his brother could purchase a gun from Gary.

Police said Gary and at least one other individual met with the victims behind the apartment complex. Gary allegedly got into the backseat of a vehicle occupied by the victims while the second individual who officials haven't named stood outside the car.

According to police, Gary negotiated the price of the gun with the victims but refused to give the godbrother the weapon when he asked to see it.

Gary went on to pistol-whip Taylor in the head, Columbus police Sgt. Joseph Hart said.

Police said that's when there was a struggle over the weapon in which Taylor and his godbrother were shot. Hart said the godbrother was leaving the vehicle when another suspect shot him in his upper thigh area.

The surviving victim said he was running away from the scene when he spotted Jaleel Merritt driving a gray Honda Civic on Riverland Drive.

"He recognized Jaleel from a previous altercation that occurred several hours earlier," Hart said. "...(Jaleel Merritt's) vehicle was spotted about eight minutes after the shooting picking up three black males from the same general area." 

Hart declined to provide further details about Jaleel Merritt's alleged connection due to the ongoing investigation into the shooting. 

Hart declined to comment when asked if police have identified any additional suspects but confirmed that officials are seeking more suspects.

The surviving victim has since been released from the hospital.

Original Story: A 22-year-old Columbus man was shot to death Wednesday afternoon as he sat behind the wheel of a car in the parking lot of Riverwind Apartments, authorities said.

 Darwyn Jaleel Taylor was pronounced dead of multiple gunshots at 4:28 p.m. at the scene of the shooting at 1811 Riverland Drive, Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan said. His body will be transported to the crime lab in Atlanta for an autopsy.

A 24-year-old man from Roanoke was taken to Midtown Medical Center where he was treated for gunshot wounds to the torso and left arm, police said.  He was in critical condition.

Police Lt. John McMichael said officers were called to the apartment building around 3:45 p.m. when the victim was found inside a car facing toward the street.

With a steady drizzle falling, police set up a tent over a the victim’s car to process the scene and look for clues. Police sealed off the area with yellow tape to keep residents out of the area near the B building where gunshots were fired at Riverland and Hawthorne Drive.

Late Wednesday, McMichael said detectives were making a little headway into the investigation but no arrests had been made. Police found drugs and guns at the scene but the motive in the shooting is still unknown.

 “We have not got a firm handle on the motive of the whole thing yet,” he said.

McMichael wouldn’t specify how many shots were fired at the location but said police are looking for more than one suspect.

 When asked about reports of a compact car leaving the scene after the shooting, he said police were given a description of a vehicle that could possibly have been involved in the fatal shooting.

 “We don’t have anything to confirm that,” McMichael said.

Police have issued a basic lookout for a four-door silver vehicle.

 “It’s possibly a Honda but we can’t be sure,” he said.

 The deadly shooting follows a rash of assaults that left at least seven people shot since Monday.

 They include three injured in an attempted robbery on Floyd Road, a teen shot on Parkwood Avenue and a fatal home invasion.

 So far, the incidents don’t appear to be related.

 “From the ones I have been involved in, I can’t see any firm connection between them,” McMichael said.

 “They seem to be individual incidents. That could be proven wrong.”

 Taylor is the 19th homicide in Columbus this year. His death comes more than a week after the Dec. 4 shooting of Demetrius Williams, 32, on Bernard Drive and Mellon Street.

---- Police arrested two suspects in that slaying, including the victim’s stepbrother.

Staff writer Sarah Robinson contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 16, 2015 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Update: Three arrested following fatal Riverwind Apartments shooting."