CINCINNATI — The man that shot and killed a prominent businessman on I-75 North in May was indicted on multiple charges Thursday, and Prosecutor Melissa Powers revealed the shooting wasn't road rage-induced like previously believed.
Powers indicted 37-year-old Randall Mickey for the May 13 shooting that killed Michael T. Sweeney, a prominent businessman in the Tri-State auto industry.
Mickey is facing two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of having weapons under disability and tampering with evidence. He is facing life in prison if convicted on all charges.
Powers also revealed that Mickey shot at the 70-year-old man's vehicle on I-75 over drug money, not road rage.
Powers said Sweeney and two women drove to a gas station along Montana Avenue on May 13. There, one of the women, Kimberly Cragwell, bought drugs from Mickey.
Mickey believed Cragwell shorted him on money and confronted Sweeney's vehicle, but Sweeney and the women drove off. Mickey then followed Sweeney's vehicle onto the interstate where he fired two shots at the vehicle, striking the businessman in the head causing him to crash, Powers said.
Sweeney later died at the hospital May 15 due to his injuries. No one else was injured in the shooting or crash.
Powers said that Cragwell lied to police by saying it was a road rage incident. She has now been charged with obstructing justice, which is a felony of the third degree.
"It is tragic and unbelievable that a man lost his life over a mere $2," Powers said.
Police arrested Mickey on June 2, and his bond was previously set in court at $1 million.
Mickey has multiple prior felony convictions and was on parole for drug and weapons charges at the time of the shooting. He was released from the Lebanon Correctional Institution on Jan. 30, 2023.
"There is no understanding the senseless actions of this individual," Powers said. "Yet, it is undeniably clear that he should spend the rest of his life in prison."
