Desire Coston

Desire Coston was a 16-year-old student at Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the weeks leading up to her death, the Black teenager had been reported as a runaway from her foster home in the Evanston neighborhood. According to police, Desire had texted her foster mother after leaving on November 27, 2021, saying she would not return and wanted to stay with an aunt. A relative later said that Desire was not missing, but simply did not want to be at that particular foster home.

On Christmas morning, December 25, 2021, at about 11:15 a.m., police responded to a 911 call about a person shot at the Gateway Plaza Apartments on West Ninth Street in the city’s West End. Officers arrived to find Desire Coston suffering from gunshot wounds. Paramedics rushed her to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where she was listed in critical condition.

Desire remained in the hospital for three days before she passed away from her injuries on Tuesday, December 28, 2021. The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office officially ruled her death a homicide. The Western Hills High School community released a statement saying they were "devastated" by the loss of their student.

The investigation led police to a suspect, 17-year-old Rico Pryor. He was arrested in connection with the shooting before Desire died and was initially charged with felonious assault, having weapons under disability, and two counts of receiving stolen property. The stolen property charges were related to two 9mm handguns recovered from the scene. After Desire’s death, a murder charge was added.

Pryor had an extensive juvenile court record and was on probation and house arrest at the time of the shooting. A court magistrate had approved the removal of his electronic ankle monitor just weeks earlier, on December 2. The prosecutor's office announced its intention to file a motion to have Pryor tried as an adult for the killing. At a court hearing, Pryor’s attorney said his client "strongly denies these allegations." As of January 2022, the case was proceeding in juvenile court.