MJP –
One day before an Avondale murder suspect was charged, she posted videos to social media showing the shooting and what led to gunfire.
Cincinnati police charged 23-year-old Akira Fletcher with murder and felonious assault for a July 12 shooting that killed Nyema Norton, 29, and injured another woman.
The shooting happened around 2:30 a.m. July 12 in the rear parking lot behind the Avondale Town Center, located in the 3500 block of Reading Road.
Norton was pronounced dead at UC Medical Center on Aug. 26.
Four days after her death, Fletcher posted the videos to Facebook. She was booked into the Hamilton County Jail the next day.
In her Facebook post, Fletcher said she called the police on July 12 “asking for them to please send somebody.”
“I was being punched in my face, rocks thrown at me, and Nyema trying to get in my car,” Fletcher wrote. “She busted my driver-side window out to attack me, she continued to try and get in my car to stab me and I let her hit me while I was on the phone with 911 asking for help.”
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Fletcher’s first video shows her exiting her vehicle to a woman pulling a knife out of her vehicle tire and then throwing a rock at her. Fletcher continues to claim that the woman and her cousin are slashing her tires. At this time, Fletcher says that she has a gun in her purse. Shortly after, Fletcher’s back windshield is shattered. Fletcher then exits the vehicle and an argument ensues before she reenters her vehicle and attempts to leave the parking lot.
Akira Fletcher 1
In Fletcher’s second video, her driver-side window has been shattered and she continues to repeat “You’re going to jail.”
As Fletcher and the two women continue to argue, one woman reaches through the broken window to grab at Fletcher. Fletcher then fires off four gunshots before exiting her vehicle.
Akira Fletcher 2
Carl Lewis, a criminal defense attorney, said while social media videos may appear to provide context, there are still other things attorneys and court systems take into account.
“Whether or not the state… or that the defense believes that a video that’s been posted is ‘probative,’ then if it’s brought into court then I’d say very well,” Lewis said. “The concern which you have is like anything else: chain of custody. Has that video been doctored? Has it been altered? Is there something that you want to show that should not be shown?”
Fletcher is currently being held in the Hamilton County Jail. She is due in court for the first time Friday.
CPD said their investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 513-352-3542.
