On February 26, 2024, at about 7:30 p.m., Cincinnati police responded to a reported shooting in the 5400 block of Kirby Avenue in the Mount Airy neighborhood. Officers found 27-year-old Sylvester Lawson III inside an apartment complex with a gunshot wound. Cincinnati Fire Department personnel performed life-saving measures but Lawson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators later identified 32-year-old Dontaevion Smith as a suspect. On March 29, 2024, Smith was arrested on an open murder warrant and charged with two counts of murder, one count of felonious assault, and two counts of having weapons while under disability. He was being held at the Hamilton County jail and the Homicide Unit continues to investigate.

If anyone has information about what happened on Kirby Avenue that evening, please contact the Cincinnati Homicide Unit at 513-352-3542.