The Cincinnati Enquirer

WALNUT HILLS - Cincinnati detectives Monday were investigating two separate killings, which brought the city's homicide total this year to 34.

Officers responded to Buena Vista Place about 11:30 a.m. after people called 911 saying a man had been shot in the head and was lying in the street. The victim was identified as Walter Gilliam, 24. He died at University Hospital.

Witnesses said the gunman - described as wearing a mask, white shirt and blue jeans - ran away.

After a 10-day span with no killings in the city, Gilliam's death was the second homicide in just over 12 hours.

Maria Cole-Johnson, 28, was found dead about 9:30 p.m. Sunday in her apartment on East 13th Street in the Pendleton neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine. She had been shot.

Hers is the second killing on her block in two weeks. May 23, Rico Cordea Adams, 31, of Westwood, was shot to death across the street from Cole-Johnson's apartment.

No arrests had been made in either case Monday.

The 34 killings compares with 31 at this time in 2003, which had a total of 75 homicides, a 26-year high