A Columbus man accused of fatally shooting 22-year-old Samir Mayes during an attempted car theft in May was arrested by a SWAT team five months later, after investigators say DNA on a window-breaking tool and cellphone tower data placed him at the scene. Amari Cross now faces a murder charge and a $1 million bond following his arraignment in municipal court.
Police were called just before 4:15 a.m. on May 20 to an apartment complex in the 4000 block of Migration Lane, according to 10TV, though NBC4 WCMH-TV reported officers responded to the 4100 block just after 4 a.m. Mayes and a woman had reportedly been watching from a second-floor balcony as multiple suspects tried to steal a vehicle parked outside the home. Police said Cross shot at the pair, and the woman suffered minor injuries while Mayes was struck and later found suffering from a gunshot wound.
Mayes was rushed to Mount Carmel East Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:55 a.m., according to The Columbus Dispatch. Police said the suspects fled the scene in a Toyota RAV4 that had been stolen around 2 a.m. that morning from a residence near Groveport, with the station's report identifying the address as Lachlan Landings Drive. The SUV was recovered later that day in South Linden, where surveillance footage reportedly showed it being abandoned.
Phone Pings and a DNA Match Build the Case
NBC4 reported that investigators reviewed video footage showing four people walking along Brooks Avenue after the RAV4 was ditched. Detectives matched cellphone tower locations placing Cross at Migration Lane, the Groveport address and Brooks Avenue around the time of the crimes, per the Dispatch. A window punch tool recovered at the shooting scene, allegedly used to break into the vehicle on Migration Lane, was found to contain Cross's DNA, police said.
Those findings led to an arrest warrant issued for Cross on Oct. 26. He was arrested that same day by a Columbus police SWAT team without incident, the Dispatch reported, and was arraigned in municipal court Tuesday, where his bond was set at $1 million. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 5.
Murder Charge Tied to Ohio's Felony Murder Statute
Cross has been charged with murder in Mayes's death. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2903.02(B), a person can be charged with murder when a death results as a proximate consequence of committing or attempting a first- or second-degree violent felony — a provision that can apply even when the killing itself was not the original intent of the underlying crime.
Part of a Broader Rise in Columbus Car Crimes
The case comes amid what Columbus police have described as a citywide uptick in vehicle-related crime. Officers told Spectrum News 1 that car thefts rose 5% to 10% during the first three months of 2025 compared with the same period the prior year, with break-ins increasingly concentrated in large parking lots at hotels and restaurants. Police said at the time they were stepping up patrols in the areas most affected.
Mayes's death illustrates the danger such crimes can pose even to bystanders who never leave their own homes. He was 22 years old when he was killed while watching an attempted theft unfold outside the Migration Lane apartment complex, and his case now moves toward a preliminary hearing as prosecutors pursue the murder charge against Cross.
