CINCINNATI — Darnell Nelson was arrested for Thursday's murder of a 67-year-old man in West End, CPD's Homicide Unit said.
Police responded to a business near the intersection of Linn Street and Dayton Street at around 12:30 p.m. There, Walter Metz Jr. was pronounced dead at the scene.
When homicide detectives arrived, a witness told police they saw a person leave, heading toward a building on Dayton Street.
SWAT was called and stood outside the home for multiple hours, calling for people inside to come out. Dayton Street was closed down while SWAT was on scene, but the street has since re-opened.
Cincinnati police said residents of the building were evacuated and the person the witness thought went into the building was ultimately not inside.
West End resident Gerald Bates said he returned home Thursday to police everywhere.
"There were policemen all over the street with guns and rifles and I was trying to figure out what had happened," Bates said. "I thought maybe somebody had gotten hurt in one of the buildings."
At the scene, CPD Capt. Steve Saunders said the department was continuing to work to bring West End residents answers.
Bates said the issue stretches beyond the West End, and he hopes to see less crime throughout the city.
"You turn on the news every day, there's something that going on so I don't personalize it and say oh, it's just all down here, because it's everywhere," Bates said. "I just wish that there was a way that we can progress beyond this at least get the crime rate down."
Nelson, 36, was arrested Thursday night and appeared in court Friday, where Nelson's attorney denied the charges, despite the prosecution saying Nelson admitted to killing Metz.
Nelson's attorney asked for a $250,000 bond and for his client to be released with an ankle monitor, but the judge denied the request. The prosecution argued Nelson's criminal history poses a threat.
"The defendant has nine prior state felony convictions in addition to the federal case for which he is currently on parole," Prosecutor David Wood said. "Those state felony convictions include multiple violent offenses including robbery with gun specification in 2006."
The judge set Nelson's bond at $1 million.
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