Like father, like son

This could qualify for a "Who did they vote for?" posts.........

It looked like it was straight from a Hollywood script but it took place in a Hamilton County courtroom Tuesday - the long arm of the law reached out to arrest a man in the audience for murder as his son agreed to testify against him in exchange for a lesser prison sentence.

The long arms belong to Cincinnati Police homicide detectives Kurt Ballman and Jenny Luke, who, with the help of other police in the audience, grabbed Rueben Jordan as Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Megan Shanahan was explaining Kareem Gilbert's plea deal. Jordan is Gilbert's father.

Gilbert, known as "Little Red," was 16 when he shot and killed Bryan Austin in an Oct. 16, 2008, incident as Austin and Vernon Davis were sitting on an Elder Street stoop in Over-the-Rhine.

Gilbert and Austin argued over a drug deal when Gilbert said Austin disrespected him. Austin responded by hitting Gilbert in the head with a meatball sandwich, angering Gilbert who left but soon returned with a gun to shoot Austin to death in front of Davis who sprinted away.

Davis told police he saw Gilbert kill Austin. But Davis was so scared for his life that he told his family what clothes to put on him for his funeral and what funeral arrangements he wanted Two weeks later, Davis returned to Over-the-Rhine to see a young relative's Halloween costume. That's when he, too, was shot and killed.

Gilbert, now 18, originally was charged with both killings and faces a possible prison sentence of two life terms.

But Gilbert and his attorney, John Issenmann, cut a deal with prosecutors where Gilbert would plead guilty to killing Austin and testify against the Davis' real killer - Gilbert's father, Rueben Jordan.

I'm always asking "where are the fathers" when it comes to these city shootings. So it's nice to see that they will be together for years to come.

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