BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio -- A Cincinnati man was sent to prison after pleading guilty to murder for a fatal shooting in St. Clair Township, the Journal-News reports.
Keith D. Harris Jr., 27, was scheduled to stand trial Monday in Butler County Common Pleas Court for aggravated robbery, felonious assault and having weapons under disability, in addition to murder. But he took a plea deal last week.
Judge Keith Spaeth immediately sentenced Harris to 18 years to life, which includes an additional three years for a gun specification on the murder charge.
Harris and Diamond Reid, 18, were arrested as they left a Hamilton County motel a few days after the death of Trey Shepard on April 8.
Reid is charged with murder, aggravated robbery and felonious assault. Her trial is scheduled for November
Another Cincinnati man, William D. Harris, 26, was arrested in California after the fatal shooting. He is also charged with murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault and having weapons under disability. His trial is scheduled to begin in September.
William and Keith Harris are not related, according to police.
The incident happened when an intruder entered an upper floor apartment of the Nelson Street residence and shot Shepard during a reported exchange of gunfire.
In a 911 call, a woman who lived in the apartment downstairs said people had been banging on their doors and broke out the sliding glass doors.
“Someone is breaking into the house upstairs from me,” the woman told dispatchers. “I hear banging. She (the woman in the upstairs apartment) is crying. She is asking for help.”
The woman said her neighbor cried out that someone was shot outside.
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The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO.
