CINCINNATI — The man accused of shooting and killing three people during a birthday party in southern Ohio appeared before a judge on Thursday.
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A judge ruled that 62-year-old James Lewis will need $3 million to be released from the Hamilton County Justice Center, our news partners at WCPO reported.
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Lewis was arrested on Wednesday and charged with three counts of murder in connection with a shooting in Millvale on Saturday, June 20.
As previously reported, Cincinnati Police officers responded to the 2100 block of Millvale Court for reports of a shooting around 10:40 p.m.
Upon arrival, officers found three people shot.
Medics pronounced all three victims dead at the scene. They have been identified as 38-year-old Kenneth Burton, 53-year-old Theresa Dudley, and 41-year-old Brenea Burton.
Officer Sarah Cronin spoke during Lewis’s arraignment on Thursday, telling the court the victims were a woman hosting a birthday party for herself, along with one of her siblings and her cousin, WCPO reported.
“It was a birthday party for one of the of the victims at her house,“ Cronin told the court. “There was an argument inside the kitchen. Mr. Lewis shot and killed two inside the kitchen — a brother and a cousin. She then ran out, she was screaming for help. He chased her down and caught up to her and shot her.”
Cronin called the shooting a “horrible, heinous crime that could have been easily prevented.”
The shooting remains under investigation by Cincinnati police’s Homicide Unit.
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