Four days after being shot during a confrontation outside a building on Warsaw Avenue, 14-year-old Rakeem Blair Jr. died of his injuries. The shooting happened about 7:45 p.m. on August 18 in East Price Hill, at or near 3752 Warsaw Avenue; police later listed August 24 as the date he succumbed to the wound. Family and witnesses say Blair and other youths had been throwing rocks at a building they believed to be vacant when someone inside came outside armed and a confrontation developed. Witnesses heard a gunshot and children screaming; Blair was struck in the head or face and was found by a Metro bus driver who began CPR before first responders arrived. He was taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in critical condition and was later declared brain dead.

On August 24 homicide detectives took a 16-year-old into custody; court reporting identified him only by the initials J.R. Prosecutors allege he used a semiautomatic handgun to shoot Blair and charged him with two counts of murder, felonious assault, and having a weapon while under disability, with firearm specifications attached.

A memorial grew near the shooting scene and family described Blair as joyful and playful. Does anyone who was in East Price Hill on August 18 have information that could help investigators clarify what happened that evening?