A Cincinnati man already convicted once of killing someone now faces the possibility of dying in prison, as Hamilton County prosecutors ask a judge to sentence 33-year-old Dathan Hall to life without parole for the November 2024 murder of Jason Stewart, a 33-year-old father of two shot dead at a red light in College Hill. A jury convicted Hall earlier in August 2026 of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence, and prosecutors are now arguing that Hall's history proves he cannot be trusted with another chance at freedom.
According to FOX19, Assistant Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorneys Elyse Deters and Christopher Lipps filed a sentencing memo detailing Hall's history of violence, writing that Hall has already received a second chance. Prosecutors wrote that Hall will never again have the opportunity to take another life, contending that permanent incapacitation is required to guarantee public safety. Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Christopher Wagner will decide Hall's sentence, per the outlet's reporting.
A Deliberate, Sustained Attack
Prosecutors argued the shooting was a deliberate, sustained attack fueled by resentment and jealousy, according to the station's report. Court proceedings described how Hall waited for Stewart to exit the Rose Gold nightclub before following Stewart's vehicle to a Thorntons convenience store and then to a red light, according to The Daily News Now. Hall then tracked down and shot Stewart at a traffic light on West North Bend Road in College Hill, opening fire on Stewart's vehicle at West North Bend Road and Belmont Avenue. Stewart died at University of Cincinnati Medical Center shortly after the shooting on November 29, 2024.
Trial evidence indicated prosecutors believe Hall targeted Stewart after Stewart sent a text message to the mother of Hall's child, per the same outlet's account of the interpersonal motive presented at trial. The case unfolded without a recovered murder weapon or direct DNA evidence tying Hall to the scene, an evidentiary gap the defense seized on throughout trial.
Rental Cars, Cell Towers, and a Changed Number
Prosecutors instead built their case on cell phone location records, rental car transaction logs, surveillance footage, and a recorded jail call, as reported by the same outlet. Cell phone records tracked Hall's phone from the nightclub to the murder scene, and his phone logged an outgoing call from the murder-area minutes before the shooting. Hall had his phone with him when he was arrested, and prosecutors say he changed his phone number hours after the murder.
Investigators also pointed to Hall's handling of a rental car in the aftermath. Hall exchanged a Hyundai Elantra for a Nissan, and he returned the bullet-struck rented white Hyundai Elantra to Hertz the next business day. He also texted a friend a photo of the rental-car receipt with a “new car” emoji, according to the case laid out at trial.
Defense attorney Carl Lewis argued the state's case relied on circumstantial links, and an alibi witness claimed Hall was asleep in bed during the shooting. Defense counsel is expected to argue at sentencing for a sentence preserving the possibility of parole.
Six-Month Manhunt Ends With Tips to Crime Stoppers
Cincinnati Police homicide detectives arrested Hall roughly six months after the shooting, in May 2025, and Stewart's family publicly credited the breakthrough to anonymous tips submitted to Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Crime Stoppers, according to FOX19's earlier reporting. That program provides cash rewards of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest in major violent crimes and assigns tipsters anonymous code numbers to protect their identity, as Hoodline has reported. Throughout the months-long investigation, Stewart's mother, Mabel Allen, and his extended family maintained public calls for justice and pledged to attend every court hearing.
A Decade-Old Killing Casts a Long Shadow
This is not Hall's first killer conviction. In 2014, Hall was charged with the murder of 27-year-old Jariell Dean, who was fatally shot on May 27, 2014, outside a West End restaurant in Cincinnati, according to the National Gun Violence Memorial. Hall pleaded down to involuntary manslaughter in the Dean case and was sentenced to six years in prison in 2014. Prosecutors are now citing that earlier leniency directly, arguing in their sentencing memo that Hall has already received a second chance and squandered it.
Under Ohio Revised Code § 2929.03, an aggravated murder conviction without death penalty specifications gives Judge Wagner the choice between life imprisonment without parole or life with parole eligibility after 20, 25, or 30 full years, according to the Ohio Revised Code. Separately, Ohio Revised Code § 2929.14 requires additional consecutive prison terms of 1 to 6 years for firearm specifications tied to an aggravated murder or felonious assault, which is why the state seeks life without parole plus an additional 15 years for Hall.
Judge Wagner has a track record of imposing maximum statutory sentences in jury-convicted violent felony cases; the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office noted that Wagner previously sentenced a convicted murderer to a maximum 24 years to life term in October 2024. The College Hill shooting also comes amid a period of heightened gun violence response across Cincinnati commercial corridors, with joint law enforcement patrols expanded in neighborhoods including College Hill and nearby campus communities under Cincinnati Police District 5's jurisdiction, as Hoodline has previously reported.
