Police in North College Hill, Ohio, are searching for 43-year-old Ricky Orlando Lee, who is accused of fatally shooting his 18-year-old neighbor, Brea’L Wade, early Monday morning. Authorities say he should be considered armed and dangerous and warn the public not to approach him.
According to court records, Lee opened fire on a car carrying Wade and another passenger around 2 a.m. on Carpenter Drive, firing 29 rounds from an AR-15 style rifle. Wade was pronounced dead at the scene.
The second passenger, an 18-year-old man, was shot in the shoulder and ear and taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. His father told reporters his son is now out of the hospital and recovering.
“I’m happy my son’s still here with us, and I’m sorry for the loss of his friend, and just still mourning about that,” the father said, adding that Lee is “a danger to the community.”
Court documents allege that the day before the shooting, Lee threatened an 11-year-old child with a handgun while he had been drinking.
Detectives reviewing surveillance footage and witness statements say Lee was seen carrying the rifle both that day and shortly before the shooting.
Investigators also recovered numerous spent shell casings at the scene and inside Lee’s home, which forensic testing confirmed were connected to the shooting.
Lee faces charges including murder, felonious assault, aggravated menacing, using weapons while intoxicated, and tampering with evidence.
A troubled history with firearms
Court records show this is far from Lee’s first encounter with North College Hill police. In April 2022, he was accused of firing a gun in an unknown direction while intoxicated.
When officers arrived and ordered him outside, he reportedly refused and instead played music on a speaker.
While free on bond from that case, he was arrested again that November on a felony vandalism charge after allegedly destroying signs inside the police station, punching holes in drywall, breaking a security camera, and urinating on the floor.
Lee was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity and was committed to a mental health facility for one year, the maximum sentence he could have faced if convicted of the vandalism charge.
Once he was released from the Talbert House, he was legally barred from buying, owning, or possessing firearms under both state and federal law, a spokeswoman for the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed.
A Talbert House vice president declined to say whether Lee was told he needed to surrender any weapons, citing patient privacy, and noted that decisions about firearm restrictions are made by the courts.
It remains unclear whether the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office ever attempted to recover Lee’s weapons after his release.
Community mourns, calls for action
Wade had graduated from high school less than a month before her death and dreamed of becoming a real estate agent. Her family described her as kind, family-oriented, and full of life.
“What happened to Brea’l is unimaginable. She was senselessly murdered in front of her own home, a place where she should have felt safe,” the family said in a statement. “No child deserves this. No family should have to endure this kind of pain.”
Local leaders are responding as well. City council member Kathy Cureton is working with community advocates on violence prevention efforts, while Pastor Anthony Hudson of Greater Faith Ministries Church is organizing a peace walk for Sunday, June 28, at 4 p.m.
Anyone with information on Lee’s whereabouts is urged to contact North College Hill police at 513-851-6000 or 513-521-7171, or Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040.
