Jason Bennett, 40, was fatally shot on the night of June 28, 2025, while seated in the driver’s seat of his car on the 3000 block of Gilbert Avenue in Walnut Hills. Emergency crews arrived about 10:30 p.m.; Bennett was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and pronounced dead. Funeral notices identified him as Jason Lamar Bennett, born May 26, 1985, and some listings recorded his passing as June 29, 2025, though the shooting is tied to June 28.

Police arrested 58-year-old John Smith at the scene and initially booked him on a reckless homicide charge that some early reports called involuntary manslaughter. Smith’s attorney told the court the shooting was an accident; a judge initially set bond at $500,000. Days later a grand jury returned an indictment expanding charges to include murder, felonious assault and discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises among seven counts.

Authorities described the investigation as active and asked anyone with information to contact the Cincinnati Police Homicide Unit. Did anyone in Walnut Hills see or hear anything that night that could help investigators?