Caleb Yafaath Simpson was a 28-year-old Black man from Cincinnati, Ohio, born on December 31, 1994. His life was cut short in the winter of 2023.
On the evening of Saturday, January 28, 2023, Cincinnati police responded to a report of a person shot in the North Fairmount neighborhood. At approximately 5:20 p.m., officers arrived at the 1600 block of Pulte Street, where they found Caleb suffering from a gunshot wound. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene. The Cincinnati Police Department’s Homicide Unit immediately launched an investigation into his death.
Less than two weeks later, detectives made their first arrest. On February 10, 2023, the Cincinnati Police Department, with assistance from the Fugitive Apprehension Unit, apprehended 21-year-old Lucion Vaughn Jr. and charged him with murder in Caleb's death. The investigation continued, and on March 7, 2023, police arrested a second suspect.
Clark Jefferson, 22, was also charged with murder.
Following the arrests, both men began to move through the legal system. Lucion Vaughn Jr. was indicted on March 3 and held at the Hamilton County Justice Center on a $1 million bail, with his next court date scheduled for March 21. Court records also showed that Vaughn faced a separate indictment for fentanyl trafficking charges stemming from a 2021 incident. Clark Jefferson was arraigned on March 8. As of March 2023, police had not publicly released a motive for the shooting, and the investigation was still considered ongoing.
Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call the Cincinnati Police Department’s Homicide Unit at 513-352-3542.
