BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Three boys shot Tuesday night as they sat on a Latonia porch might have been victims of random gang violence, police said.
The two teen-agers arrested after the gunfire are believed to be gang members. They may have thought the boys were gang members, too, but police said the victims do not appear to be.
"They were just going out to gang bang," said Capt. Steve Wills, chief of detectives for the Covington Police Department.
Victims Robert Herindon, 15, his brother, Timothy, 11, and a relative, Joshua Cooper, 13, were sitting outside their grandfather's house on Virginia Avenue when a black Camaro rolled up and opened fire with a shotgun, police said.
The oldest boy was listed in serious condition later Wednesday at University Hospital in Cincinnati. His brother was treated at St. Elizabeth Hospital North and released. Joshua was released Wednesday from Children's Hospital.
It was the first of two shootings in Northern Kentucky's largest city Tuesday night. The second, unrelated incident came 20 minutes later at 10th and Greenup streets. In contrast to the Latonia location, the second shooting took place in an area known for drug trafficking and violence.
The victim in this case, Frank Hinkston, 23, was standing on the sidewalk with a group of people when he was shot. He remained in critical condition Wednesday at University Hospital.
The shootings came a day after a well-known local drug dealer, Terrance "Doc" Comer, was gunned down in his Pleasant Street house. An arrest has not yet been made in that case.
It didn't take investigators long, however, to find the 1986 Camaro -- a witness to the shooting was chasing it. Inside was an empty casing from a shotgun shell, according to a search warrant. Police also found a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun, which had been thrown out of the car along Madison Avenue six blocks from police headquarters. Arrested were the driver of the car, Juan Carlos Moctezuma, 19, of Covington, and a Covington 17-year-old, who remained unidentified because he is a juvenile. Mr. Moctezuma appeared in court Wednesday morning and was assigned a public defender. He remained behind bars later Wednesday and is to return to court Aug. 6.
Police were still looking for two other males thought to have been in the car when the shooting took place.
The shootings brought the number of assaults with guns in the city to 39 so far this year. That is almost as many as last year's total, 44. "It's a terrible thing to have happen," said Lt. Col. Steve Schmidt, department spokesman. "We're throwing everything we've got at this problem. We really are."
