The city is investigating a possible illegal rental of the property after the murder

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Columbus city authorities are now looking into Tuesday’s homicide at Property on Oak Street to determine whether the owner was illegally operating the unit as a short-term rental.

Police confirm Clayden McNeill, 30, was found dead from a gunshot wound in the doorway of a property near Franklin Park.

Neighbors say they are concerned about what the rental property is doing to the safety of this community.

“It makes us all unsafe to have properties like this,” Laurie Kullner said.

“It definitely made me uncomfortable, anxious and upset,” says Aleja Martin, owner of Just Chicken.

The Department of Public Safety says the owner, Austin Rutherford, was renting it out short-term, but the license expired in November.

“We need to take a hard look at what’s going on in our short-term rental neighborhoods to understand and better find ways to make people feel safe in the communities they work in,” said Councilman Emmanuel Remy.

He says 98.9% of short-term rental operators are doing business the right way, but not all.

“A few bad actors paint a bad picture for the entire industry, so we’re going to find ways to hold them accountable,” Remy says.

Neighbors say this isn’t the first case of trouble on Rutherford’s property.

Rutherford also had a short-term rental license for a property on Franklin Avenue. The license for this property has also expired.

“There were big parties in the front yard, damage was done to neighboring property, people were writing in the front yard, getting into fights,” said Abe Zawadny.

Zowadni says several residents were banned from filing complaints together with the rental property platform, which removed the listing. According to residents, the property now belongs to new residents.

Remy says they can’t stop short-term rentals, but the city is working hard this year to address the issue.

When asked what the consequences would be for one of those property owners to receive multiple complaints, Remy said the city would consider all legal options.

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