Brandon Michael Grimes, 22, male, Black/African American, was shot on the night of September 9, 2025, in the Mount Healthy neighborhood just north of Cincinnati. Police were dispatched around 8:30 p.m. to the area of Hamilton Avenue and Lakenoll Drive, where officers found Brandon Michael Grimes with a gunshot wound; he was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and later pronounced dead. Officials identified him as a 22-year-old from nearby Forest Park.
The scene centered on an apartment complex near the intersection, where responding officers and later detectives worked into the night as the investigation began. Early reports from local outlets noted that the Hamilton County Coroner confirmed the victim’s identity as Brandon Michael Grimes, 22, while police said little about a motive in the hours immediately following the shooting. Community posts and memorial pages quickly marked the date and location of the killing, reflecting the shock in Mount Healthy and Forest Park.
Within days, investigators said a combination of eyewitness accounts, cell-phone records, and automated license-plate reader footage from Flock Safety cameras helped point them to a suspect. On September 12, officers arrested 19-year-old Daronte Copeland and charged him with murder in the death of Brandon Michael Grimes, 22, male. A judge set Copeland’s bond at $1,000,000, and court documents indicated prosecutors planned to present the case to a grand jury later in September.
As of mid-September 2025, police and prosecutors publicly named only Daronte Copeland as the alleged gunman in the killing of Brandon Michael Grimes, 22, and no additional suspects had been announced. Coverage of the arrest emphasized the rapid progression from the initial 911 calls to a suspect in custody, while family statements and memorials underscored the loss felt by those who knew him.
