Just days before the three-year anniversary of her 11-year-old son being shot and killed near Laurel Playground in Cincinnati's West End, Lakeisha McFarland says she still has no answers, no arrest, and a growing fear that the case will simply go cold. Domonic Davis died on November 3, 2023, after a shooting near the playground that also wounded five others, including four children. No one has been arrested in his death.
McFarland is Domonic's mother, and Isaac Davis is his father, according to FOX19. She says she wants to know why cases like her son's in her area are not being solved, and she says detectives are still working on Domonic's case, though the family's last update from them came months before this report. Investigators previously told WCPO that someone in a dark sedan fired 22 shots into a crowd near the playground, and Cincinnati police homicide Detective David Gregory said at the time that officers were still actively working the case. Police do not believe Domonic or the other children struck that day were the intended targets, WCPO reported.
A Mother's Fear of a Cold Case
McFarland says she fears her son's case could become cold, and she hopes the approaching three-year mark without an arrest will be the last one without answers. Domonic's parents have said no one has been arrested in his death, and they are asking anyone with information to come forward. McFarland has asked people with information about Domonic's death to contact Cincinnati police or Crime Stoppers.
Domonic was a student at Cincinnati College Preparatory Academy, WCPO reported. His family says Halloween was his favorite holiday, and that he looked forward to becoming a teenager and turning 13. This year, Halloween falls on a Saturday.
The push for information has come with financial incentive attached to it. Davis's family previously said they were contributing $5,000 of their own money to boost the reward for information in the case, according to WCPO's earlier reporting, and the ATF raised its own reward from $5,000 to $7,500 on July 24. Cincinnati City Council renamed a West End street for Domonic, unveiling it on December 24, 2024, per WCPO.
Another Child Killed at Laurel Playground
Domonic's case is not the only one haunting Laurel Playground. QueenEr'Re Reed, also 11, was shot and killed there on the first night of 2026, just before 7 p.m., according to Local 12. As of that report, there were still no arrests in either case. Local 12 noted that Domonic was killed about a block away from Laurel Playground in 2023, before Reed was killed at the playground. Cincinnati has more than 400 unsolved homicides overall, according to a separate report from WLWT, which noted the Cincinnati Police Department's Cold Case Task Force — made up of CPD homicide detectives and investigators from the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office — had not solved any of its reviewed cases in its first three weeks of operation.
McFarland says the family still does not know the status of promised safety upgrades near the playground. The city approved an additional $1 million in its budget in June for lights and cameras near parks, but Local 12's reporting found that surveillance expansion promised for the West End more than two years earlier still had not fully come into fruition, and that allocated funding for additional lighting had also not been implemented as of that report. The safety measures are expected to cost more than $2 million.
A Community Gathering to Remember Domonic
Domonic's parents will hold a community event to celebrate his life on November 1. The gathering was originally planned for Tuesday but was moved to Sunday because Tuesday fell on both a school day and Election Day. The event is set to include food for children, music, a performance from a rapping chaplain, and games and prizes.
For McFarland, the event is also a chance to keep her son's case in public view as another year passes without an arrest. Anyone with information about Domonic's killing is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040 or submit a tip through its website, per WCPO's reporting.
