CINCINNATI — The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction and the Ohio Adult Parole Authority (APA) are disputing claims by Sarah Heringer and Mayor Aftab Pureval that Cincinnati law enforcement was not notified after Mordecia Black, accused of stabbing Heringer's husband Patrick to death in OTR, cut off his ankle monitor.
"APA issued a nationwide arrest warrant less than 24 hours after Black left his halfway house and missed his weekly appointment with his parole officer," the APA wrote to WCPO in a statement. "All existing policies were followed in this circumstance, as primary notification to notify law enforcement agencies is the violator-at-large warrant being entered into Ohio's Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS) and National Crime Information Center (NCIS)."
The agency said the purpose of the LEADS and NCIC databases is to facilitate the timely exchange of information between different law enforcement agencies. It went on to say that ODRC Director Annette Chambers-Smith has directed the APA to change its current warrant entry policy to also include direct notification to a law enforcement agency when a warrant is issued on a targeted violent offender, "as a secondary and additional" notification to the one the arrest warrant is supposed to provide.
Still, the APA says Cincinnati police should have checked the LEADS and NCIC databases when they issued their own warrant for Black's arrest following a May 15 burglary that happened nearly one month before Patrick Heringer was stabbed.
"It is also relevant to point out that it is generally standard practice for law enforcement, upon entering a warrant into LEADS and NCIC, to check for other open warrants on a suspect," reads the statement. "In this particular circumstance, it can be reasonably assumed that local law enforcement would have, at the very least, been made aware of the APA's warrant at the time it issued Black's warrant for the May 15 incident."
A warrant was issued for Black on May 15 for the alleged burglary, but he was not arrested for that case until June 5, when police charged him with the murder of Patrick Heringer.
In the May 15 case, Black "by stealth" entered an apartment on Straight Street while the occupants of the home were there, according to court documents.
"Black entered the apartment and walked into the bedroom of the residence," reads court documents.
From there, the home's occupants demanded he leave and Black fled the scene before police arrived — but the occupants of the home identified the intruder as Black, a CPD officer wrote in an affidavit.
Since her husband's death, Sarah Heringer has made repeated calls for Cincinnati officials to provide answers on why the suspect accused of murder was "walking free" after cutting his ankle monitor and committing a burglary earlier this year.
On Tuesday, Sarah Heringer said she met with Mayor Aftab Pureval and Police Chief Teresa Theetge, who told her, "while they were aware that Patrick’s killer was out on parole, they were completely unaware that he had broken that parole — and that no one from the parole board had notified local authorities."
Pureval appeared to confirm that information in a statement released to WCPO, saying in part, "When he cut his ankle monitor, City law enforcement should have been notified immediately, and he should have been tracked down and apprehended. That this didn’t happen is unacceptable."
Heringer said she would continue to push for Pureval and city leaders to own their system's failures, which she said Pureval told her he would do. He reiterated that in his statement.
"I am ultimately responsible for keeping residents safe, and I will do everything I can to improve breakdowns in the criminal justice system," Pureval said.
In a message posted on social media, Theetge spoke about the "violent and senseless acts" that have taken lives in Cincinnati recently. She specifically identifies Patrick Heringer among others.
Theetge spoke about how police are working to prevent violence and "building the safest communities possible."
"There is nothing more heartbreaking than watching our officers respond, call to call, trying to make a difference, only to witness yet another life lost, another family torn apart, another family harmed," Theetge said. "Still, we press on and we continue to show up because we believe in the people of this city."
In his first court appearance, Mordecia Black's attorney said he was released from prison in January after serving his full term for felonious assault and rioting. Officials confirmed he cut off his ankle monitor just one month later while under post-release control.
