Officers will not be charged in deadly Wyoming shooting

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Hamilton County Prosecutor Melissa Powers announced Friday no charges are being filed against Wyoming officers following a deadly shooting on Jan. 30.

The shooting happened after officers responded to a call from a resident on Durrell Avenue, thinking a neighboring home was being burglarized, the prosecutor explained.

Officers arrived at the home of 28-year-old Joe Frasure Jr.’s grandmother.

Powers says officers saw Joe Frasure Sr. in the driveway of the home and his son, Frasure Jr., behind the wheel of a van.

The Wyoming officers can be heard on the body camera video commanding Frasure Jr. to get out of the vehicle and put his hands in the air.

As Powers explained while playing the video, the 28-year-old put the van in reverse and crashed into a tree. Still not complying with officers’ commands, he put the van in drive and “quickly accelerated with the clear intent to drive his vehicle in the direction of the other two officers,” Powers said.

Frasure Jr. almost hit one officer, according to Powers, before turning the van in the direction of the other officers.

“In an act of self-defense,” Powers says officers fired four shots toward the van, with at least one of the bullets hitting Frasure Jr.

Officers rendered aid to Frasure Jr. before he was eventually transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the Hamilton County prosecutor explained. At that time, Frasure Sr. ran from the scene before he was eventually taken into custody, according to Powers. The father had an active arrest warrant for a misdemeanor theft charge in December of 2022, Powers said.

Frasure Jr.’s family said he was brain-dead but remained on life support. On Feb. 1, the Hamilton Coroner’s Office said he died.

The 28-year-old was allegedly at the Durrell Avenue address because that’s where his grandmother lived, his family told FOX19 NOW.

The family says he went there to help his sister clear out their grandmother’s apartment after her death three weeks ago.

“He was going through a tough time over her passing, and he was there to help his little sister clean out the place and someone made a bogus call about a burglary,” Frasure’s uncle, Art Tucker, claims.

Prosecutor Powers explained Friday that the city of Wyoming and the Board of Health made it known that no one could live in the building. She said it was her understanding that no one was allowed to be in the home past sundown.

The officers who fired their guns are on paid administrative leave, Wyoming Police Chief Brooke Brady said.

Frasure Jr. was on probation in Indiana for felony battery and had an active probation violation warrant at the time of the Jan. 30 shooting, according to Powers. He was on parole in Kentucky for manufacturing methamphetamine and had an active parole violation warrant for absconding, she explained.

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