By Jane Prendergast
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cincinnati homicide detectives made two arrests Wednesday in separate unsolved killings, including a New Year's Eve shooting that might have been a hate crime.

Officers arrested Jerry Jones, 22, in the West End and charged him in the slaying of Gregory Beauchamp, who was shot while he was walking to an Over-the-Rhine club to attend a New Year's Eve party. Friends said he was with several men dressed in drag.

Authorities also arrested Carlton James Jr., 29, and charged him in the September shooting death of Rashad Barnes in Bond Hill. James was arrested in Indianapolis, where he remains pending an extradition hearing. Police identified him as their suspect months ago. A warrant for his arrested was issued in March.

Authorities would not elaborate on how detectives solved the cases. Court documents in both cases say the arrests were based on detectives' investigation and witness statements.

"Some of them you can get done with in two days,'' said Sgt. Joe Priestle. "Some take two weeks. Some, they're taking two years.''

Court records allege Jones had a .22-caliber handgun the night of the killing and fired it several times out the window of a Cadillac. Beauchamp was shot once in the chest.

Officials of Stonewall Cincinnati, a gay rights group, worked with police to try to encourage witnesses to help. The case also drew attention from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a national group based in Los Angeles that tracks similar incidents.

The founder of a victims' group that has been critical of the number of unsolved killings in Cincinnati was pleased with the arrests.

"It's fantastic,'' Lucy Logan, founder of the victims' relatives group Who Killed Our Kids?, said of the arrests. "That's great news.''

Her son, Nolan Moi, was shot to death in his Madisonville apartment in March 2002. His killing remains unsolved.

Email jprendergast@enquirer.com