CINCINNATI — Four days before 14-year-old Rakeem Blair Jr. was shot and killed at an East Price Hill home, Cincinnati police had already visited the property after a community complaint and found it appeared unsecured, with people coming and going.
Now, Cincinnati City Council members are questioning whether more could have been done before Blair was killed — and pressing the company that owns the home about how it handled people occupying a property it says was supposed to be vacant.
Representatives from Second Avenue, which owns roughly 100 single-family rental properties in Cincinnati, appeared before council Wednesday alongside representatives from the Cincinnati Law Department and police.
WATCH: Property owner scrutinized over East Price Hill home where 14-year-old was killed
"I was a little disgusted after hearing and seeing some of the things that are taking place on the Second Avenue property," Councilmember Scotty Johnson told WCPO after the meeting.
Concerns about the home predated the shooting
The questions Wednesday centered on 3752 Warsaw Ave., where Blair was shot Aug. 18. The teen died days later.
The property had already drawn concerns from neighbors, and the city's involvement with Second Avenue stretches back years.
Cincinnati sued the Tampa-based company in August 2023, alleging it created a public nuisance by providing substandard housing and failed to comply with building and health codes. The lawsuit, which also seeks past-due fines and fees, remains pending. Second Avenue disputes some of the city's allegations and says it has been working with city officials to address concerns.
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According to a timeline presented to council, police received a specific community complaint about 3752 Warsaw in the days before Blair was shot. An officer went to the property Aug. 14 and found it appeared unsecured, with people coming and going, city attorneys said.
The city contacted Second Avenue, which said the property was supposed to be vacant and had previously been secured on June 20. The company also said it was pursuing an eviction involving unknown occupants.
At that point, however, the city had not issued a vacate order for the property. Mark Manning with the Cincinnati Law Department told council that because there was no vacate order and an eviction was pending, the city did not have the ability at that time to enforce trespassing at the home.
Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney questioned whether the city's response moved quickly enough after concerns about the home were reported.
"I think the big issue is we just didn't respond quickly enough with this," Kearney said, pointing to concerns that the property remained accessible.
Second Avenue says it was working to remove people from property
Second Avenue representatives told council the home had been occupied by a tenant until May. David Stewart, the company's Cincinnati field representative, said Second Avenue cleaned and renovated the property after that tenant moved out and had it ready to rent again by June.
"They moved out. We immediately cleaned it up, painted it, it was beautiful," Stewart said. "Trespassers came in, and that's — that's the result."
Stewart acknowledged the company knew people were inside the property before Blair's shooting, telling council he drove by the home "daily, almost." He said Second Avenue was using the court system to remove them.
That explanation prompted questions from council members about why trash and other problems remained at the property despite the company's awareness of the conditions.
Stewart said Second Avenue did not believe it was safe to send workers onto the property while people were occupying it.
"We didn't like it, either. We couldn't go on property. It wasn't safe," Stewart said. "If we hire anyone to go there and pick it up, could they have been killed also?"
The city's Law Department also addressed questions about the process for removing people from a vacant property. Manning told council there is no "squatters' rights" law in Ohio for someone who is truly trespassing. However, he said determining whether someone is a trespasser can get more complicated when a pending eviction involves unknown occupants.
City issued vacate order after shooting
Blair was shot at the Warsaw Avenue home Aug. 18, four days after the police visit.
The following day, the city returned to the property with a Second Avenue representative. An inspection resulted in a vacate order after officials determined the home was unsafe for people to live in, giving police additional authority to enforce against people illegally occupying it.
According to the timeline presented Wednesday, people continued getting inside. Police found trespassers there Aug. 21, and the city barricaded the property again Aug. 25 and 26. People were found there again Aug. 28 before Second Avenue ultimately executed its eviction Aug. 31.
"It shouldn't have taken the death of a 14-year-old to get to this level," Councilmember Anna Albi said during the presentation.
Second Avenue told council the home's interior and yard have since been cleaned out and the property is now boarded. Though graffiti blankets the exterior walls. Stewart said the home will remain secured until the company is ready to rent it again.
Questions extend to Second Avenue's other properties
Wednesday's hearing also broadened beyond the Warsaw Avenue home to Second Avenue's roughly 100 rental properties across Cincinnati.
Because of the city's pending lawsuit, those properties are subject to Cincinnati's Residential Rental Inspection program. City officials told council Second Avenue initially applied for inspection certificates for 26 properties between September 2023 and May 2024 before submitting dozens more applications in July 2024. The Warsaw Avenue property had not yet had its inspection scheduled before the shooting.
Second Avenue representatives told council the company has since completed inspections on roughly 60 properties and said more than half passed. When council members asked how many of the inspected properties had violations, an attorney for Second Avenue said the company would need to research the number and provide it later.
Attorney Eric Roberts told council Second Avenue has been working closely with Cincinnati officials for nearly a year as it moves properties through the inspection process.
"We have been working hand in hand with them," Roberts said.
Second Avenue declined to elaborate on those issues when WCPO requested an interview after the hearing, instead pointing to what its representatives shared with council. Johnson said he wants to see measurable progress from the company and the city's efforts.
"Everybody deserves to live next door to somebody that cares about the property, and unfortunately, right now, based on what I saw, it appears Second Avenue is not being good neighbors in Cincinnati," Johnson said. "The citizens of Price Hill deserve better. The people of Cincinnati deserve better."
Johnson said he would like to see results within the next 30 to 60 days and said the city will continue putting pressure on Second Avenue to address concerns surrounding its properties.
The hearing also raised a broader question about how Cincinnati handles problem properties when complaints involve multiple departments. Council members questioned whether the city needs a single point person to coordinate cases that can involve police, Buildings and Inspections, the Law Department and other agencies.
Cincinnati Police Chief Adam Hennie said preventing another tragedy will require those agencies to work together rather than treating nuisance properties as the responsibility of any one department.
"We need to work together to come up with a 360 solution, not just the police, not just building inspections, and make this a better place for everyone to live and hopefully prevent a tragedy like that happening in the future," Hennie said.
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