On Monday, a judge in Hamilton County heard from a 9-year-old boy whose father was killed in Corryville last year.
The 9-year-old wrote in a message that his dad, Kevonne Howze, was his best friend and guardian. The boy listened to his mom read it while standing next to her.
The boy wrote that his dad would never be able to see him walk across a stage after high school or college. Also, his dad won’t be at football games, parent-teacher conferences, or when he wants to tell him that he got an A+ on a spelling test.
“I wake up every day and my dad isn’t here,” the boy wrote in the letter.
At the end of the letter, the author asked Common Pleas Judge Jennifer Branch to give him the harshest term possible “so he doesn’t hurt anyone else’s dad.”
Branch then gave Nolan Garrett, who was 23 years old, a life term with the chance of parole after 24 years. If you are found guilty of murder, you must go to jail for 15 years to life. But Branch added nine years to the minimum because he was also found guilty of other charges and gun laws.
Shooting in the parking lot of Taco Bell
In May, Garrett was found guilty by a bench trial of murder, felony assault, and having a gun while being a criminal.
In the parking lot of the Taco Bell on Highland Avenue on April 29, 2023, someone shot someone. Branch said Garrett shot Howze from behind as the 28-year-old ran away.
“It made no sense.” It was a fit of rage. “It was horrible,” Branch said.
After Garrett was found guilty, she said he seemed to be proud of the decision.
Garrett was on probation in Clermont County at the time of the event. He had pleaded guilty to assault charges in a 2019 shooting and stabbing.
Case in Clermont County
Assistant Prosecutor Allison Oswall for Hamilton County said Garrett was shot because he sold drugs and other drug dealers broke into and sacked his house.
Oswall said Garrett fought back by cutting someone and shooting other people. The bullets did not hurt anyone.
After Garrett pleaded guilty in Clermont County and was given probation, Oswall said he had a chance to change.
Garrett, according to Oswall, “came to Hamilton County and murdered Kevonne Howze in broad daylight.”
The events that led to the killing were not talked about in court on Monday. Branch said that Howze’s family had written to her before the sentence to say that Garrett and Howze were jealous of each other “because of who Mr. Garrett had dated.”
During the sentence, Garrett’s mother and father both spoke. Garrett’s mother said that he was kind and helpful. He was also selfless, which she said sometimes worked against him.
Robin Garrett, Garrett’s father, said that his son was not the one who was found guilty.
He told them that his son “always stands strong for people who have been wronged.”
