CINCINNATI — Five months after an afternoon shooting in the parking lot of a Walmart on Ferguson Road left 24-year-old Jamontea Brown dead, officials have indicted a suspect for his murder, but they haven't arrested him yet.
On Wednesday, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced Josiah Hassell has been indicted on one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault.
However, Deters said Hassell's whereabouts are unknown and he hasn't yet been arrested.
If he's convicted on all charges, Hassell could face a maximum possible sentence of life in prison.
At around 3:30 p.m. on November 27, Deters said Brown left the Walmart in East Westwood and waited outside for a ride to pick him up. While he was waiting, Hassell allegedly pulled up in a vehicle, got out and shot Brown in the back of the head.
Surveillance footage from the Walmart shows Brown and two others leave the store and stand near the bollards outside. After a moment, a man dressed entirely in black with a hood pulled up and tightened over his face can be seen slowly walking up behind Brown before pulling a gun and firing it in close proximity to the back of Brown's head.
"This man was executed, in broad daylight, in a crowded parking lot," Deters said. "In all my years as a prosecutor, it is hard to think of another case as brazen as this. The type of person who can casually walk up behind an unsuspecting victim and put a bullet in their head is someone who should never be on the streets again."
Anyone with information on Hassell's whereabouts or Brown's murder should contact the Cincinnati Police Department at 513.352.3542.
