The Columbus Dispatch
One 14-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday in connection with the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old girl on New Year’s Eve while a second teen remains at large in an unrelated homicide.
Michael McCurdy, also known as “Mike Mike,” was arrested without incident around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in North Linden, Columbus police said.
McCurdy is charged with delinquency murder in Franklin County Juvenile Court in connection with the death of 15-year-old Unique Prater.
Around 3:40 p.m. on Dec. 31, Prater was found shot in an alley behind the 1200 block of Atcheson Street in the Mount Vernon neighborhood on the Near East Side.
Prater lived in the Driving Park neighborhood and was an eighth-grade student, according to her family.
“I will never heal from my broken heart; she wanted to live life to the fullest and we had so much to accomplish, her mother, Alysha Robinson, said in Unique’s obituary. “We didn’t know how much time we had with her; this isn’t fair. She had counselors, probation officers, case workers, and many other mentors. This truly saddens me because we couldn’t save her, but she will live with peace and love as she always has.”
McCurdy will be held in the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Facility pending his first hearing before a juvenile court judge.
McCurdy is believed to have been one of three teens arrested Dec . 27 in connection with a stolen vehicle incident, but was later released. He is accused of killing Prater four days later.
On Jan. 13, police believe McCurdy was one of two teenage suspects in a stolen Hyundai that police pursued on Interstate 670 eastbound to Interstate 270 northbound to Interstate 71 southbound, traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph at times and dodging spike strips. The chase ended in an area east of Cleveland Avenue where the two teens in the stolen vehicle fled on foot and escaped.
Meanwhile, Columbus police continue to search for a second 14-year-old boy wanted for a separate, unrelated homicide.
Detectives have charged 14-year-old Eric Lanning with delinquency murder in connection with the death of a man who was confronting someone about his stolen car earlier this month.
Around 9:15 a.m. on Jan. 14, Christopher Mateen, 43, of the South Side, was looking for his stolen car. Columbus police said he spotted his car in the parking lot of a McDonald’s restaurant on the 3500 block of South High Street.
Mateen reportedly confronted the people in the stolen car and was shot.
In 2022, Columbus police said 12% of all identified homicide suspects were juveniles.
Police said Lanning has been identified as a suspect in the case and should be considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information on Lanning’s whereabouts is asked to call police at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS.
