Self defense cited in deadly botched robbery in Fairfield parking lot
The attorney for a Cincinnati teen charged with murder in the September shooting death in a Fairfield parking lot says the evidence will point to self defense.
Zakariya K. Davis, 18, was arrested Nov. 15 in Kentucky by Fairfield Police with the assistance of the state and local departments after a Butler County grand jury indictment for his part in a robbery attempt that turned deadly on Sept. 7.
Davis is charged with murder, aggravated robbery and felonious assault. He was arraigned in Butler County Common Pleas court, where bond was set at $500,000.
Cameron Duskin, 19, died of gunshot wounds after shots were fired and a car he was in crashed into a semi-trailer in the rear parking lot of 4605 Dixie Highway, according to the county coroner’s office and Fairfield Police. That address is a Goodwill store.
Four days after the homicide, police said the initial investigation determined that individuals exchanged gunfire during an attempted robbery.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said the robbery involved a meet up to allegedly sell some tennis shoes. Duskin was shot and killed by a man who fired in self-defense when he and Davis tried to rob the man, according to prosecutors.
“He was indicted for murder because under the laws in Ohio, if you are involved in a crime that results in the death of another person, you are subject to being charged with responsibility of the death of that person,” Gmoser said. “If you are engaged in conduct that is a felony, and it is violent behavior and somebody ends up getting killed in the process, even if it is one of the partners in crime, you are going to be held responsible for that death.”
On Monday, attorney Rodney Harris filed notice stating he may offer self-defense evidence on behalf of his client at trial and “the government is hereby put on notice that all witnesses noted
Davis
in the government’s discovery response may be self-defense witnesses.”
Judge Noah Powers II has not yet set a trial date. Harris is scheduled to be back in court March 19.
At about 9:57 p.m., officers responded to a report of a shooting and armed robbery in the area of Symmes Road at McGreevy Drive, police said. A female caller at a nearby drive-thru called 911 reporting shots fired in the area of Dominos.
“I do believe the clip got emptied, but I am not sure,” the caller said. Police said the robbery did not involve any businesses or employees.
She told the dispatcher a man in a red hoodie ran across the drive-thru.