Then-17-year-old accused of murdering UC student will be tried as an adult

Hamilton County Juvenile Judge Kari Bloom ruled Wednesday the then-17-year-old accused of murdering a UC student in March will face trial as an adult.

Though he was 17 years old when he allegedly shot and killed 21-year-old Benjamin Addison on March 30, he has since turned 18.

He will still be held at the juvenile detention center until his trial begins. Because he has not yet been indicted on adult charges, WCPO 9 is not publishing his name.

He faces five charges: murder, felony murder, felony assault, aggravated murder and aggravated robbery.

"It was a long day and it was a hard day but thank God they found probable cause on all the counts," said the victim's father Joe Addison after Wednesday's hearing.

On March 30, Benjamin Addison was found shot outside his vehicle on Highland Avenue, near Dorchester Avenue. His family said he'd decided to go out with some friends the night before.

"I called him at 10 p.m. because usually he comes home from school," his mother, Yeshi Leggesse told us in March. "He said to me, 'Mom we're celebrating, do you mind if I stay out?' And I thought, 'He's 21,' because he keeps telling me, 'I'm 21.'"

She and Addison's father agreed it was fine if their son stayed out with his friends. They were out celebrating a friend's victory following a boxing event.

Courtesy of Yeshi Leggesse

"I said, 'Benjamin, if you need a ride home, call me. I can come get you.' He said, 'OK dad I love you.' That's the last thing he said to his mom and me both — 'OK dad I love you,' 'OK mom I love you.' That's how he was," said Joe Addison, reading the last words his son wrote to him in a text message.

His family said Addison parked his car on Highland Street, but backtracked to it when he thought he'd left his headlights on. When he and a friend got back to the car, however, they found two people trying to break into it.

When the two asked the man on the driver's side to get out, Leggesse said they didn't see the other person on the passenger side, who then shot her son.

At the probable cause hearing, prosecutors appointed Cincinnati Police Detective Kelly Anne Best as the state's representative. Best is the lead detective on the case and gave testimony to the court.

Best said she found two phones on the floor of Addison's car and later learned one of them belonged to the then-17-year-old. Best also walked the court through newly obtained surveillance video that allegedly shows the accused and his alleged accomplice fleeing from the scene.

​"That video evidence we saw — no doubt about it. There's no doubt about it," Joe Addison said. "Anybody can look at that video evidence and see, that was him."

"It brings everything back as if it just happened. You never forget it. Every day. Every day we think about him," Leggasse said. Every minute of the day we think about him, things remind us of him. Even being in the house — you know, because he lived with us — we think about him. So when we see the place where in the car, it just brings everything back as if it just happened."

WCPO 9 learned that the 17-year-old who allegedly pulled the trigger had, hours earlier, spoken to Covington police officers.

According to dispatch audio, the mother of the teen's girlfriend reported her gun had been missing for around one month, suggesting the teen had stolen it. The teen denied it, and after officers took down his information, they let him go, dispatch recordings said.

Later, Kenton County dispatchers told officers the teen had an active murder warrant out for his arrest.

Dispatcher: "He is wanted for murder."
Officer: "Oh is he?"
Dispatcher: "Yeah, it says wanted juvenile delinquent, caution armed and dangerous, full extradition. It's out of Hamilton County."
Officer: "OK, yeah it's funny. I didn't speak to him, my other officers up there spoke to him. I don't know, actually figured they didn't run his information because I was talking to the mother. Wow, interesting."

The officer then told dispatch the teen's girlfriend was driving him back to his home in Cincinnati. Dispatch contacted authorities in Cincinnati, and the then-teen was eventually arrested.

In court Wednesday, the defense argued no gun was ever recovered in connection to the shooting. They also argued none of Addison's friends nor any neighbors in the area could identify the then 17-year-old.

Bloom set the teen's bond at $200,000 and ordered he remain in the juvenile detention center until his trial in adult court.

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