A 35-year-old Cincinnati man accused of firing a rifle into a woman's Grandin Avenue home on two separate occasions, and into his own apartment building on Willis Avenue, is being held without bond as he awaits another hearing next week. Ryan Murphy faces a stack of charges that includes felonious assault, terrorism, inducing panic and vandalism tied to a series of shooting incidents across multiple Cincinnati neighborhoods.
According to WKRC, Murphy is accused of firing into the Grandin Avenue residence twice, a street that runs through Cincinnati's Hyde Park and Columbia-Tusculum neighborhoods on the city's east side, according to local geographic accounts shared on Reddit. He's also accused of shooting into the building where he lives on Willis Avenue last month, prompting police to shut down the road and evacuate the building, per the station's report. Willis Avenue sits in Cincinnati's Mount Lookout neighborhood, near Linwood and Observatory avenues, according to a Redfin listing for the area.
Vandalism Targeted a Mental Health Provider and a Landscaping Business
Court documents also accuse Murphy of vandalizing Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services and Hafner and Sons Landscaping on September 7, with a gun used in connection with both incidents, the WKRC report states. Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services is the region's largest nonprofit mental health and addiction treatment organization, operating a dozen locations across southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky and providing 24/7 crisis support and psychiatric care, according to the organization's own location listings. Court papers reviewed by the station do not outline the specific dollar amount of damage done to either the mental health provider or the landscaping business.
What court records do show, per the same account, is that a road was shut down and a building was evacuated after the alleged shooting at Murphy's own Willis Avenue address. The terrorism charge against Murphy stems from a legal mechanism under Ohio law that lets prosecutors elevate felony counts when there's an intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence government policy, or affect government conduct. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 2909.24, such an elevation increases the offense class by one felony degree, a statute the Ohio General Assembly enacted as part of expanded terrorism laws passed in 2002.
A Prior Conviction Involving Broken Glass
Murphy isn't a stranger to Hamilton County courts. A prior criminal-damaging conviction followed a March 2021 incident in which he threw a chainsaw through an apartment window, resulting in a 180-day suspended jail sentence and one year of probation, according to filings reviewed via the Supreme Court of Ohio. That earlier case was appealed to the state's highest court over whether broken glass presented a sufficient risk of physical harm, the court filings note.
The felonious assault charges Murphy now faces carry significant prison exposure. Felonious assault under Ohio Revised Code Section 2903.11 is a second-degree felony punishable by two to eight years in prison per count, and sentences are subject to additional indefinite terms under the state's Reagan Tokes Law, according to Graham Law. That law allows state corrections officials to extend a sentence by up to 50 percent past the minimum term based on an inmate's institutional behavior.
Murphy's Bond Hearing
Murphy's attorney said during his bond hearing that Murphy has a traumatic brain injury. It remains unclear whether defense counsel intends to pursue a formal competency evaluation or a diminished-capacity argument as proceedings continue.
Murphy remains held without bond in Cincinnati until another hearing scheduled for next week.
