On January 29, 2024, Darnell Pate Jr., a 30-year-old security guard and former law enforcement officer, was fatally shot outside Napoleon's Bar at 4150 Germantown Pike in Jefferson Township, near Dayton, Ohio. Deputies from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene around 2:50 a.m. and found Pate dead with apparent gunshot wounds inside a vehicle.
The incident was described by the sheriff's office as a targeted assassination.
Investigators believed that the perpetrators had been lying in wait for Pate to leave the business and go to his vehicle after finishing his shift at the bar. A stolen car, which was later found abandoned in the area with evidence inside, was believed to have been used by those involved in Pate's death.
Two suspects have been identified and charged in connection with Pate's murder. The first suspect, Sha'king Jones, 25, was indicted on multiple charges including two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, one count of aggravated robbery, and one count of having weapons under disability. Jones's trial is still pending.
The second suspect, Julien Swindle, 22, was identified as the getaway driver. On November 20, 2024, Swindle was sentenced to 15 to 19 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of aggravated robbery and involuntary manslaughter. According to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, Swindle was the driver who fled the scene of the shooting and allegedly carried out a separate armed robbery on the same day.
Prior to his death, Darnell Pate had served in various law enforcement roles across multiple departments in Southwest Ohio. He had briefly served as interim chief of the New Vienna police department in Clinton County and had also worked for police departments in Addyston and New Holland. Pate gained public attention in November 2019 when he attended the funeral of slain Dayton police detective Jorge DelRio with his young daughter, while serving as a police officer for the city of Union.
The investigation into Pate's death involved multiple law enforcement agencies and took several weeks to identify and apprehend the suspects. The Montgomery County Sheriff's Special Investigations Unit conducted searches and made arrests in connection with the case. The sheriff's office worked closely with the prosecutor's office to gather sufficient evidence for murder charges to be presented to a grand jury.
