CINCINNATI — Cincinnati police announced Tuesday they had arrested a suspect in the Aug. 18 shooting death of Neko Larkin, who was struck and fatally wounded by a stray bullet while riding his regular bus through North Avondale.
Joshua Ervin, 30, stands charged with murder.
At the time of the shooting, police said there was no indication the bus was the target. Investigators said the bullet that hit Larkin was part of a separate gunfight nearby.
Metro operator Antonio McClendon left his scheduled route and took the bus to the emergency room at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where Larkin was pronounced dead.
“As I was driving I was nervous, I was kind of a wreck,” McClendon said. “But I knew that if I wouldn’t have drove the way I did, someone else or even myself could’ve been harmed.”
McClendon said he drives several routes for Metro. He knew Larkin and talked to him regularly about work and family.
“Every time he got on my bus, and it could be times when I’m down, he’d get on my bus, he’d be like, ‘Hey bus driver, how you doing today?’ He just lifts my spirit every time he gets on my bus,” McClendon said of Larkin.
