60-year-old walking home from work killed in Covington robbery

COVINGTON, Ky. (WXIX) - The victim in a homicide in Covington late Thursday is a 60-year-old man who was shot and robbed as he walked home from work, police announced Friday.

Officers found Virgil Stewart, 60, near the 15th Street Bridge around 8:55 p.m. after responding to a report of two gunshots.

He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said he was walking home from work when two men approached him on the bridge.

Witnesses told investigators they heard at least one shot and saw the suspects “rifling through Mr. Stewart’s pockets and then fleeing the scene,” police wrote in a news release.

Detectives searched the area and found several items of evidence. They continue to work the scene and are currently searching for more evidence.

The suspects’ identities remain unknown, police say.

Anyone with information about this is urged to call Covington Police Detective Adam Uhl at 859-292-2275.

James Duncan, who runs the Lord’s Gym Ministries in Covington, said Stewart’s death is shocking, given that he spoke to him a day earlier.

“I just saw him yesterday, so there is a little shock,” Duncan said. “Virgil has a long history with the Lord’s Gym. He struggled with alcohol for a long time, and he got sober first through Jesus, of course, and then through working out at the Lord’s Gym at our Cincinnati location.”

Lord’s Gym is a safe haven for at-risk youth, men, and women battling addiction and homelessness.

Duncan said once Stewart accepted Jesus, he started dedicating his life to helping save others.

“He would find people on the streets, and he would help bring them here and people that needed detox,” Duncan recalled. “He had a heart for vets.”

Friends and family of Stewart said he worked at the Family Dollar on Madison Avenue to help support his granddaughters.

When his coworkers learned of his death, they honored him with a small memorial.

“He was one of the nicest people I have met here in Covington,” said Tangie Osborne, Stewart’s co-worker. “He helped everybody that he saw. He was kind to everybody, and he also had a sense of humor. He’s going to be missed.”

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