On the evening of Thursday, May 21, 2026, 22-year-old Robert Lee Rothwell III was fatally shot while a passenger in a vehicle on northbound Interstate 71 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Gunfire struck the car, and deputies and detectives closed the interstate for several hours as they processed the scene. Rothwell was taken to UC Medical Center, where he died of his injuries.

The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office opened an active homicide investigation, collecting ballistic evidence and seeking surveillance footage and witness statements. Investigators said they were trying to determine how many people were in the suspect vehicle and what the motive might have been. No suspects or arrests have been identified in the days after the shooting.

Family and friends remembered Rothwell as kind and energetic. If anyone witnessed the May 21 shooting, saw a suspicious vehicle on northbound I-71 that evening, or has information that could help investigators, please come forward.