Marian Marie Menefee was my daughter’s grandmother. One day, on November 14, 1978, her two young sons were looking for their mother in their apartment at 536 Lilley Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. When they called for her with no response, the boys checked the basement, where their mother washed clothes. That’s where they found her lifeless 20-year-old body. Fourteen years later, another woman, Darlene Gervins, would be found strangled at the apartment building next to Miriam's.
45 years later, like so the homicides of countless black women in Columbus, her murder remains unsolved.
When she called the Columbus Police Department to inquire about the homicide of Marian Marie Menefee, the detective refused to provide her with any information, questioned her as if she were guilty of a crime, returned none of her phone calls and to this day has refused to call her back. Is this how the family members of cold case victims are being treated in every case? Why aren’t these cases being solved?
Marian Menefee is case #879. Like these other women who are victims of unsolved homicides in Columbus, Ohio, she was more than that. She was someone’s daughter and a mother, who never had the chance to meet her grandchildren.
The following homicide cases of black women in Columbus, Ohio are listed on the Ohio Attorney General’s website as unsolved:
Anita Lias -Case #861
On August 30, 1975, 16-year-old Anita Lias left her Columbus, Ohio, home to head to her babysitting job. When Anita didn't come home, her father contacted the Columbus Police Department the next day to report her missing.
They discovered Anita Lias' body in an alley two days later, on September 1, 1975. Someone found the teen girl in front of a garage at 862 South Champion Avenue. Someone strangled and stabbed Anita and bound her hands behind her back. Authorities reported there were no indications of sexual assault.
Who murdered Anita and why?
Those questions have remained a mystery since 1975. Both her parents, Moses and Alice, have passed away and her sister, Pamela, died in 2009 without ever knowing who murdered their beloved Anita.
Paula Logan - Case #940
On May 12, 1987, someone found the body of 23-year-old Paula Logan behind 1321 North 5th Street in the short north area of Columbus, Ohio. The young woman suffered multiple head injuries. Her homicide remains unsolved.
Yvonne Norris - Case #1337
On August 27, 1989, witnesses reported that Yvonne Norris returned to her apartment on 17th Avenue and Summit Avenue in Columbus, Ohio at 9:30 pm.
Between 9:30 pm and 2:27 am, something sinister occurred. The apartment Yvonne lived in with her children burst into flames. Two of her children escaped, but Yvonne remained trapped in the purposely set apartment fire at 1335 Summit Street, where she died. Authorities found Yvonne with her hands tied behind her back and someone had strangled the young mother.
They have named no suspects and filed no charges in this horrific homicide.
Chasing Destino remains an advocate for her case and continues to raise awareness about her senseless murder until justice is served for Yvonne and her family. You can read her story here:
https://chasingdestino.com/2019/12/10/cold-case-quest-yvonne-norris/
I have spoken with Yvonne’s daughter, who looks just like her beautiful mother, and the family misses Yvonne and longs for answers in her case.
Sheronda Norris- Case #663
Sheronda Norris was seen on September 15, 1991, going to her aunt’s house on East 23rd Street in Columbus, Ohio. She never made it. On September 16, 1991, a passing motorist discovered her nude body around 5:00 pm lying on the side of Agler Road, just east of Sunbury Road. Authorities have never found her killer.
Darlene Gervins - Case #1457
On February 15, 1992, someone found the strangled body of 29-year-old Darlene Gervins at 546 Lilley Avenue on the southeast side of Columbus, Ohio. Ironically, she and Miriam Menefee, murdered in 1978 at 536 Lilley Avenue, were found at apartment buildings located next to one another.
Darchelle Stone - Case #1824
On September 27, 2008, 19-year-old Darchelle Stone was found deceased in her home at 5546 Labrador Lane. According to the Ohio Attorney General’s website, Darchelle died from autonomic dysfunction caused by stab wounds. Her brutal homicide remains unsolved.
Tiana Goins - Case #1798
On April 7, 2008, one of the first warm days of that spring, shots rang out in the 1500 block of Cordell Avenue on the north side of Columbus, Ohio. More than a dozen friends and family members were hanging out in the area. 18-year-old Tiana Goins was sitting on the hood of a parked vehicle. A white or tan Caprice pulled up and fired multiple shots into the group, fatally wounding Tiana, who was an early high school graduate of Ft. Hayes. Authorities have named no suspects in her case.
Jerri Monique Glenn - Case #2085
On March 20, 2015, 21-year-old Esak Gemeraw was shot and killed while riding in a minivan near a shopping mall authorities issued an arrest warrant for 18-year-old Ni’Shawn Glenn-Coulverson in connection with the homicide.
On April 22, 2015, around 6:45 am, someone shot and killed 34-year-old Jerri Monique Glenn, the mother of Ni’Shawn, in her vehicle in front of her Park Trails apartment on Winter Park Lane.
Neighbors called 911 and heard her children screaming.
“I asked them what happened, and they said their mom got shot,” neighbor Mohamed Sow said, Fox 28 reported. “I believe the person who shot at her was waiting for them to come out of the house.”
Authorities recovered the gun used in the homicide in a pond behind the leasing office of the apartments at 5555 Tinley Park. Witnesses reported seeing a man in all black with a black mask leaving the scene. Some believe her death was in retaliation for the homicide of Esak Germeraw. In March 2016, a jury convicted Ni’Shawn, and he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Esak.
Authorities have made no arrests in the homicide of Jerri Monique Glenn.
If you have any information on any of these unsolved homicides, please contact the Columbus Police Department homicide unit at 614- 645-4995 or Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477 or crimestoppers16038@gmail.com.
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