A Hamilton County grand jury is indicting Cornell Beckley with two counts of murder in the Cameo Night Club shooting .
Seventeen people were hit by gunfire at the Kellogg Ave club early on March 26. O'Bryan Spikes, 27, died at the scene. Officials say there's no evidence he was a target of the shooting.
Prosecutors charged Cornell Beckley, 27, and Deondre Davis, 29, with murder last week. Davis was one of those injured in the shooting. He died Tuesday.
Beckley has been indicted on 38 counts including involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, and inducing panic. He could face life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutor Joe Deters says a third gun is still missing. A third gunman would face the same indictment as Beckley. Had Davis lived, Deters says he would also be facing the same charges.
"This did begin with an altercation inside the night club," Police Chief Elliot Isaac said last week. "A group of individuals deteriorated into a fight, it escalated into individuals being able to sneak guns inside the bar and shots being fired."
Deters now says the altercation was between a group from Madisonville and a group from Price Hill. He declined to call it a turf war.
"The Madisonville people had just left a funeral for a friend of theirs and they were upset that the Price Hill people were there and they were aiming their fingers at each other like they got a fake gun in their hand," says Deters. "Then this particular defendant (Beckley) then got up on a little stage, a riser area, and started shooting his gun.
The family of Deondre Davis maintains he wasn't involved.
In response, Deters says, "It's his family. It's really hard for people to accept, especially when your son has died, it's hard to accept what we believe the facts to be, but we have witnesses that saw him do that."
Police are declining to discuss what other evidence they have that points to Beckley and Davis. Attorneys for both have told local media there is no evidence connecting the men to the guns used in the shooting.
"Everyone wants to blame the security measures, the owner of the bar, things of that nature," says Deters. "There were criminals in this place with guns shooting them. That is who is to blame. Everyone wants to find an excuse but keep your eye on the ball here. There were criminals in there with guns, shooting randomly, and innocent people were hurt."
The night club is now closed and the owner says he doesn't plan to reopen.
Copyright 2021 91.7 WVXU. To see more, visit 91.7 WVXU. 9(MDA5NTM4MTIyMDE0MTg3NDc2MTVlZjdmNQ001))
