Josiah Harris was a 22-year-old Black man who his family remembered as a loving and caring person with a great smile who was always full of life.
In the early morning hours of Monday, September 20, 2021, a gathering was taking place at the Cedar Hill Apartments on Harrison Avenue in Green Township, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. An altercation broke out just before 3:30 a.m., and gunfire erupted. Police arrived to find two men suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds. One of the victims was Josiah Harris, who had been shot in the head. Both men were rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Harris succumbed to his injuries the following day, on September 21, 2021.
Green Township police quickly identified a suspect, 21-year-old Elijah Thompson of Florence, Kentucky, and issued warrants for his arrest on two counts of felonious assault. The investigation led officers to a residence in Covington, Kentucky, on the morning of Tuesday, September 21.
After a SWAT situation that lasted several hours, Thompson surrendered to police and was taken into custody.
Thompson was initially booked into the Kenton County Detention Center in Kentucky. He waived extradition and was transferred to the Hamilton County Justice Center in Ohio on September 23. The next day, he appeared in court, where a judge set his bond at $240,000 on the initial assault charges. Following Harris's death, prosecutors upgraded the charges against Thompson.
As of October 2021, Elijah Thompson faced charges of murder and five counts of felonious assault. Court documents filed early in the investigation alleged that Thompson and an unnamed co-defendant both brandished firearms and shot the victims, but no other person has been publicly identified or charged. The case is pending in the court system. Anyone with information is asked to call Green Township Police at 513-574-0007 or Crimestoppers at 513-352-3040.
