Antonio Blair

Antonio Dawayne Blair III, a 21-year-old Black man from Cincinnati, Ohio, was known to friends as a great person with a genuinely loving heart. A friend, Austin Shoop, called him “Tony” and remembered that they had big music plans they wanted to accomplish together. Shoop recalled a recent conversation where they caught up on things, never imagining it would be their last. He later said he hoped people could show more love than hate, as Blair did.

In the early morning hours of August 16, 2020, Blair was at a peaceful gathering at a home on Chalfonte Place in the Avondale neighborhood. The night was part of an exceptionally violent weekend in Cincinnati that saw multiple separate shootings. Around 12:30 a.m., a group of uninvited people, including Marlon Canady, arrived outside the home and caused a disturbance. According to the prosecutor, words were exchanged between the groups, and gunfire erupted.

First responders found Antonio Blair at the scene suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to University Hospital, where he died from his injuries. Three other people were also shot during the altercation and were taken to the hospital by private vehicles.

The Cincinnati Police Department’s Homicide Unit investigated the shooting and soon charged Marlon Canady, then 30, with murder and felonious assault. Canady was also shot during the incident. His attorney later stated in court that Canady was shot in the back by a security guard at the home, resulting in paralysis from the waist down, and claimed his client was not armed. Prosecutors maintained that Canady was part of the group causing the disturbance and had fired shots himself.

The case against Marlon Canady proceeded to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. However, the murder trial ended in a plea agreement after witnesses refused to cooperate with the prosecution. Canady was sentenced in March 2022, bringing the court proceedings to a close.