'Badly decomposed' body found in abandoned Columbus car wash ruled homicide

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The death of a man whose body was found “badly decomposed” inside an abandoned car wash has been ruled a homicide.

In October, the Franklin County Coroner’s Office said it had identified Christopher Coleman as the man found inside a car wash bay of an abandoned building in the Georgesville Square Shopping Plaza.

According to recently released autopsy report, Coleman, 53, who was pronounced dead in the 1500 block of Holt Road, died of a homicide. The report stated that Coleman was found with his hands bagged, a belt around his neck, blunt impacts to the head with skeletal and soft tissue injuries, facial and scalp lacerations, and that his genitals had been removed after he died.

Columbus police confirmed that Coleman’s death is being investigated as a homicide, though due to the ongoing investigation they do not have any additional information.

Coleman was alive as recently as one month before his death, when he was charged with disorderly conduct and appeared in Franklin County Municipal Court. The fingerprints used to identify Coleman’s body were matched with those taken on Sept. 11, three days after his arrest.

The former Super Wash business, where Coleman was found, had a chain link fence surrounding the property and has been abandoned for years.