Kevin Damar Suttles, 38, was shot nine times and killed on January 5, 2021, while sitting in a barber’s chair at Mike J.’s barbershop in Cincinnati’s Roselawn neighborhood. He was pronounced dead at the scene on what would have been his birthday.

Authorities arrested Jahmon Akins, 30, charging him with murder. Prosecutors described Akins as a contract killer, saying he walked into the shop, executed Suttles, and fled; they later said DNA and other circumstantial evidence tied Akins to the shooting. Akins was found at a hospital with a gunshot wound and had $4,700 on him that prosecutors called a down payment. The trial noted other firearms were present in the shop, including guns belonging to the owner and a barber, both with prior felony convictions, and parts of a barber’s gun were recovered in Winton Woods Lake after a chase.

The killing drew community attention amid rising gun violence, and family and neighbors mourned Suttles, remembered as kind and generous. If anyone knew Kevin, his routine, or saw activity near Mike J.’s on January 5, 2021, please share information.