A Cincinnati boy shot in the head at age 8 while running to a West Side convenience store for movie-night snacks has died more than five years later, still just 13 years old. Marcellus “MJ” Whitehead spent months hospitalized, underwent five surgeries and had once played football before his death, which the Hamilton County Coroner's Office has preliminarily classified as apparent homicide-delayed.
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, reporter Cameron Knight's account describes a boy who idolized his older brother and ran alongside him to an East Westwood store that night in search of snacks, only to be struck by gunfire that also wounded three other people. The coroner's office has listed MJ's death as a potential homicide, a designation that opens the door to further legal scrutiny of the shooting that nearly killed him in 2021.
The shooting happened on the 3200 block of McHenry Avenue, where, as CNN reported at the time, MJ was one of four victims struck by gunfire alongside a 6-year-old shot in the legs, a 7-year-old who was uninjured but whose shoe was hit by a bullet, and an 18-year-old man. Local12 reports that MJ spent more than 150 days in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds to his head and leg, undergoing five surgeries in the process.
Months of Hospitalization, Years of Constant Care
MJ was eventually discharged from Cincinnati Children's Hospital, but the road did not end there. The Cincinnati Enquirer's earlier coverage noted that he came home in November 2021 but still required constant care, having been left bedbound by his injuries. The shooting date has been reported as June 12, June 14 or June 21, 2021; the attack unfolded in East Westwood.
The man convicted in the shooting, Darius Harris Jr., was 19 years old when he fired the shots, according to the seed reporting. Prosecutors said he targeted an 18-year-old man from Evanston who was also struck in the gunfire, and Harris later pleaded guilty to multiple counts of felonious assault and weapons charges, taking responsibility on July 28, 2022, for a shooting that wounded MJ and three others.
Sentence, Plea Deal and the Murder Charge That Could Follow
Harris was sentenced to 11 to 13½ years in prison and is currently held at Warren Correctional Institution in Lebanon, a detail confirmed by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, which lists his admission date as Aug. 10, 2022. Local12 reports that prosecutors filed paperwork at the time reserving the right to prosecute Harris for homicide-related charges if MJ died of his injuries, and under the plea agreement, Harris may now face a murder charge if MJ's death is determined to have resulted from the shooting. The station also reports that Harris was out on bond for another gun charge when the Westwood shooting happened.
A Neighborhood Still Pleading for Help
In the aftermath of the 2021 shooting, neighborhood residents displayed signs reading “MJ Strong,” and the East Westwood Community Council pleaded with Cincinnati City Hall for more help stopping gun violence in the area.
State Sen. Cecil Thomas has pointed to a longer arc of violence in the city, telling WLWT, “Right after we had civil unrest in 2001, we started to see an uptick in violence.” Thomas has pushed for investing in 15 new street advocates as one response.
For MJ's family and neighbors who once rallied around his recovery with handmade signs and hospital vigils, his death more than five years after the shooting closes one chapter of a long ordeal while opening a new legal question about accountability. Whether that question results in additional charges against Harris remains unresolved, with the coroner's preliminary classification of the death as apparent homicide-delayed.
