Father Wanted for Daughter’s Murder Shot by Police in Columbus

On March 25, 2025, Columbus Police SWAT officers tracked down and shot 33-year-old Darnell Jones, also known as Darnell Ogletree, in the Victorian Village neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio, around 10 a.m. Jones was a fugitive sought by Toledo police for the abduction and murder of his 13-year-old daughter, Kei’Mani Latigue. The incident followed two days of surveillance by Columbus SWAT, spurred by a tip about Jones’s possible location. Near Dennison and 2nd avenues, officers confronted him as he walked along a sidewalk. Body camera footage, released on March 27, captures an officer asking Jones for his identity and demanding he show his hands. Jones, audibly distressed, repeated “just kill me” before reaching into his pocket, where he hid a firearm. The officer responded with multiple shots, wounding Jones, who survived and was transported to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in stable condition. Police recovered a revolver and a walkie-talkie at the scene.

The horrific murder of Kei’Mani Latigue began unfolding a week earlier in Toledo, Ohio. On March 18, 2025, Jones took her from her grandmother’s home, where she lived under her grandmother’s legal custody, without permission. When Jones failed to return her, the grandmother alerted authorities. Toledo police grew suspicious as Jones offered inconsistent accounts of her whereabouts, prompting a statewide Amber Alert. The search ended tragically on March 24 when Kei’Mani’s body was found in an abandoned house on Miami Street in Toledo’s Old West End. The Lucas County Coroner’s autopsy revealed she died from multiple deep cuts to her neck, inflicted by a sharp weapon like a knife, ruling it a homicide. The wounds suggest a brutal, close-range attack, though specifics about the crime scene remain undisclosed as of March 27.

Investigators suspect Jones intended to harm Kei’Mani, though his motive is unclear. Court records hint at a troubled past and strained family ties. After the killing, he fled Toledo, triggering the manhunt that ended in Columbus. Now facing murder and abduction charges from Toledo, plus a felonious assault charge in Columbus for brandishing his gun, Jones remains hospitalized. The case has stunned both cities, with officials condemning the violence and vowing justice for Kei’Mani, whose death at her father’s hands marks a devastating betrayal.