Cincinnati's devastating spate of violence claimed two more victims Wednesday with the shooting deaths of an Avondale woman at her home and a Bethel man whose body was found in Madisonville.

        The killings came a little more than a day after shockingly cold-blooded shootings in Pleasant Ridge and Kennedy Heights left two men dead and two others injured.

Cincinnati police investigators collect fingerprints Wednesday from the SUV in which a Bethel man was slain. (Glenn Hartong photos) | ZOOM |

        And they came hours before the Cincinnati Police Division's new Violent Crimes Task Force hit the streets. The 70 undercover and uniformed officers have the daunting task of ending the city's 600 percent increase in violence since the April riots.

        “Where next?” Cincinnati Police Lt. Kurt Byrd asked of the most recent shootings, which have occurred in city neighborhoods beyond Over-the-Rhine and the West End — the focal point of much of the violence.

        No arrests had been made late Wednesday in the day's two slayings and police were still identifying suspects.

        Wednesday morning's shootings were the 26th and 27th homicides this year, and the 28th victim was added later in the day when it was ruled a man found dead Monday had been slain. That compares to 18 at this same time in 2000.
       

Body discovered

        About 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, Mark Napier, 33, of Bethel,was found dead, slumped over the wheel of a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban at the intersection of Cornish and Ward streets.

        The passenger side window was shattered. He had been driving north in the 5300 block of Ward Street when he was shot. He was apparently trying to drive away when his vehicle rolled to a stop on the edge of a lawn, Lt. Byrd said.

Montez Taylor listens as Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Guy Guckenberger sets bond at $1 million in two deaths Monday night.

        Neighbors said Mr. Napier was frequently seen driving through the neighborhood, where numerous drug dealers sell to clients in expensive vehicles.

        Mr. Napier did not have a criminal record, police said.

        Shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday, police officers were called to the 500 block of Hale Avenue in Avondale, where Mary George, 39, was found shot outside her apartment building.

        She had been talking to two shirtless African-American men before she was hit, witnesses told police.

        Ms. George, the mother of three daughters, was rushed to University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

        In 1992, Ms. George was convicted of robbery, burglary and theft, and served four years in the the Ohio State Reformatory for Women before being released in 1996.

        It was the second shooting death this year on this street, which also is known for high crime activity. On Feb. 23, Robert Lemar White, 19, was shot to death in his apartment. A month later, Charles Blevins, a neighbor, was arrested and charged in connection with the death of Mr. White.
       

Residents worry

        The violence “seems like it's moving from one community to another. It was just up the hill,” said Velda Coley, 40, who fears for the future of Madisonville and her 1 1/2-year-old son, Benjamin.

        She grew up in Madisonville. The violence is changing, she said.

        Nowadays, “fistfighting is child's play and gunfighting is man's play,” Ms. Coley said.

        The proof was seen Monday evening.

        Witnesses say a man pursued two people in a Honda SUV through the streets of Pleasant Ridge, a normally quiet middle-class city neighborhood.

        About 7 p.m., the SUV crashed. The other driver reportedly left his car, ran over to the wrecked vehicle and shot point-blank at Lornie P. Starkey, 22 of Kennedy Heights and Clem Turner, III, 20, of Mount Auburn, who were trapped inside.

        On Wednesday, Montez “E Money” Taylor, 23, of Silverton, was arraigned on two counts of aggravated murder. His bond was set at $2 million, which prosecutor Heather Wilkowski had argued for because of the viciousness of the killings.

        Outside the courtroom Wednesday, relatives of the victims sat quietly and most refused to talk.

        Vicky Bains, 34 of North College Hill, Mr. Turner's half-sister, said she heard about the shooting on television.

        “Something has to be done to stop all this killing,” she said.
       

When will it end?

        But others wonder when this urge to seek revenge will stop.

        In Madisonville, Gabrea McCoy, 41, of Springdale, sat on her mother's porch while a nearby tow-truck operator started to maneuver Mr. Napier's vehicle onto the truck bed. She had rushed over when she learned that a shooting had happened outside her mother's door.

        “It's a doggone shame, ain't it?” asked Angela Pearson, 41, as she approached Ms. McCoy from the street.

        Ms. Pearson and Ms. McCoy said the drug activity is what's hurting the neighborhood. People are out on the street at all hours.

        The problem, they said, is especially bad two blocks over, at Chandler Street and Whetsel Avenue. In fact, a group of youths gathered there at 9 a.m.

        “They need that task force here,” Ms. Pearson said. “So many kids out here have guns. I'm tired of these little punks.”
       

28th homicide

        Cincinnati police ruled Wednesday that a man whose body was found Monday in a wooded area of Fairview had been slain, making him the 28th homicide victim this year.

        The man was described as heavyset, African-American, about 5 feet 10 inches tall. He was wearing a red, white and blue T-shirt; knee-length blue jean shorts, and a maroon leather belt.

        Anyone who can help investigators identify the dead man are asked to call Cincinnati plice, 352-3542 , or Crime Stoppers, 352-3040.

       
       Michael D. Clark and Allen Howard contributed to this report.
       
       Photos by GLENN HARTONG/The Cincinnati Enquirer
       

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