A man arrested in a Fayette County home invasion Thursday was tied to the killing of a 77-year-old woman in Columbus, Ohio, just days prior, officials said.
Michael Brooks II, 28, remains in police custody while in the hospital for injuries received during the break-in, the sheriff’s office said. He is facing charges of home invasion, burglary and theft by taking in the Fayette incident, and a charge of murder out of Ohio.
Deputies were called to the Fayette home Thursday regarding an active alarm and potential intruder. Officials said the homeowner was forced to fire a gun “to defend his family,” which resulted in injuries to the suspect. Brooks is believed to have acted alone.
Though the sheriff’s office said the invasion was an isolated incident, officials said it was discovered that Brooks approached multiple homes in the area before targeting the victim’s residence.
A Ford truck located at the home is believed to have been used by Brooks. The vehicle was reported stolen out of Kettering, Ohio, and displayed a different state’s license plate, the sheriff’s office noted.
After Brooks was tied to the incident, deputies found out he had an extensive criminal history and was wanted in the death of Emily Foster in Columbus, Ohio.
“He does have a criminal history that spans Columbus police, some of the area suburbs, Franklin County, some agencies and cities up and down 75, all the way from Detroit obviously now down to Georgia and some communities in between,” Columbus police Deputy Chief Smith Weir said during a news conference Friday.
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On Sept. 9, officers in Columbus were sent to a home in the 2000 block of Iuka Avenue regarding a stabbing. Police said Foster did not know Brooks and they do not believe that robbery was the motive. Warrants for his arrest in that case were secured Wednesday.
“Usually when we have incidents of stabbings, they are a personal attack. You have to know your victim and attacker. But in this case, all of our evidence at this point points to this being a random attack,” Weir stated.
Weir confirmed that Brooks is from Ohio and said they do not know of any connections he has to Georgia.
