Cameo Night Club shooting victim's family prepares to sue, seeks public's help

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - Relatives of the man gunned down during a mass shooting inside Cameo Night Club are seeking the public's help as they prepare to sue, one of their attorneys said Tuesday.

O'Bryan "Lucky" Spikes' parents, other family members and friends are seeking witnesses statements, photographs and videos.

"We want all those responsible for his death to be held accountable: all shooters, club owners and the Cincinnati Police Department - criminally and civilly," read a statement from Spikes' parents, Raquel Mitchell and Owen Spikes.

In an interview Tuesday, attorney Chris Finney of Finney Law Firm said his office is in the preliminary stages of gathering facts about the incident ahead of the lawsuit.

"We will be seeking compensation from the wrongdoers in this situation, certainly," Finney said. "We want to gather as much information as possible and as responsibly as possible."

When asked who the lawsuit suit would specifically target, Finney responded: "We have to investigate the claims and figure that out, but I would say certainly the club operator who allowed this incredibly unsafe situation to exist and potentially landlords, Cincinnati police and any private security."

Spikes' family said they are prompted to take legal action "to help others avoid being in the situation we find ourselves in - having buried a loved one from a senseless tragedy."

Several hundred people were inside Cameo Night Club off Kellogg Avenue in the East End when the gunfight broke after a dispute among several people in the early morning hours of March 26, police have said.

The shootout between two groups from two Cincinnati neighborhoods sent club patrons diving to the ground to dodge bullets.

In all, two men including Spikes, 27, were killed and another 15 people were hurt. Spikes was an innocent bystander at the club for a friend's birthday, according to his family.

Spikes died at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the chest. He was not targeted in the shootout, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters has said.

It is considered the largest mass shooting in the nation this year and the biggest in the city's history.

The club was supposed to be checking patrons for weapons. However, at least three different guns made it inside, according to police.

Cameo Night Club manager Julian Rodgers surrendered his liquor permit the following day and announced he was closing the club.

He also has denied some patrons were allowed to bypass security checks that included metal-detection wands before the gunbattle erupted.

Four off-duty police officers were at the nightclub when the shooting broke out and quickly responded to help assist victims.

The officers were providing security in the parking lot at the time, something police routinely do for clubs with liquor licenses.

Cameo Nightclub has a history of gun violence including a shooting inside the club on New Years Day 2015 and a shooting in the parking lot in September of the same year, city records show. Police were called to the club upwards of 100 times since the beginning of 2016.

The other man who died from the shooting was Deondre Davis, 29.

Davis and Cornell Beckley, 27, were charged with murder in Spikes' death. Police also are searching for a third, unidentified suspect.

Beckley is accused of climbing onto the club's stage and firing the first shots into the crowd, at least four rounds from a .25 caliber revolver, police have said.

Davis then fired a .40 caliber Glock at least eight times.

Neither Beckley and Davis were legally allowed to carry guns, according to prosecutors.

Police recovered both guns after the shooting, along with a 9mm handgun believed to belong to an unidentified, third suspect.

Davis was hospitalized in critical condition, unresponsive and on a ventilator for several days after the shooting. He died April 4.

Beckley is held in lieu of $1.7 million bond at the Hamilton County Justice Center awaiting trial May 30.

He faces up to 230 years in prison if convicted on all charges, including murder, felonious assault, inducing panic and weapons offenses.

Attorneys for Davis and Beckley have said they are innocent.

Beckley's attorney, Clyde Bennett, has dismissed the charges as "a product of public outcry, social appeasement and politics."

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