A 19-year-old Cincinnati man is facing felonious assault charges after he allegedly shot his mother Monday night in the Avondale neighborhood, then tried to hide the gun used in the attack, which had been reported stolen. Mario Dates was ordered by a judge to stay away from his mother as the case moves forward.
According to court papers cited by WKRC, Dates admitted to shooting his mother on Alaska Avenue in Avondale. The station reports he then hid the gun in his apartment, and that the weapon had been reported stolen.
Dates is now charged with felonious assault and receiving stolen property, per the same court documents. A judge set his bond at $15,000 and ordered him to stay away from his mother, and a temporary protection order was filed in connection with the shooting, the outlet's report notes.
Avondale has figured prominently in Cincinnati’s recent gun-violence response: the city’s 2025 violence-reduction strategy lists it among five neighborhoods that consistently rank near the top for gun violence. The strategy also says citywide shooting incidents and victims were lower in January-August 2024 than in the same period in the prior three years, though shootings rose unusually in October 2024, including incidents involving young people.
What Remains Unclear
Police have not said what led up to the shooting, according to the report, leaving the circumstances behind the confrontation between mother and son unknown for now. The case remains under investigation as it proceeds through the courts.
Ohio law treats a criminal temporary protection order as a possible pretrial condition of release in cases involving an alleged offense of violence against a family or household member. It is separate from bail and, under the statute, generally remains in effect until the criminal case is resolved or a related civil protection order is issued. The law also says the order is not a finding that the accused committed the alleged offense.
