Accused 'contract killer' sentenced in Roselawn barbershop murder

A man prosecutors said was a “contract killer” who was convicted of fatally shooting a man two years ago inside a Roselawn barbershop was sentenced Tuesday to 21 years to life in prison.

A jury last month in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court found Jahmon Akins guilty of charges including murder and being a felon in possession of a gun.

Prosecutors said Akins walked into a barbershop near Reading and Section roads on Jan. 5, 2021, and shot Kevin Suttles nine times as he sat in a barber’s chair. Prosecutors called it an execution.

Akins, 30, says he is innocent and read a statement in court Tuesday, saying he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

During the two-week trial, prosecutors worked to connect Akins to the shooting, despite no eyewitness placing him at the scene. The shooter was described as wearing a face mask and a black hoodie.

Suttles' DNA was found on Akins’ pant leg.

The case was made more complicated because at least two other men had guns in the barbershop that day, including its owner. Both testified that they disposed of their guns, The owner threw his gun into a large container in the parking lot that held used grease. That gun was a different caliber than the murder weapon, prosecutors said.

The other man, who prosecutors said worked as a barber at the shop, said he chased after the shooter in his car and fired at him. He said he then disassembled the gun and threw parts of it into Winton Woods Lake. That gun was never recovered.

Neither man was legally allowed to have a gun because of previous felony convictions.

Minutes after the shooting, a pickup seen on video driving away from the shooting arrived at Jewish Hospital carrying Akins. He was treated for a gunshot wound. Prosecutors said he had $4,700 in his pants at the hospital, which they called a "down payment."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Jahmon Akins sentenced in Roselawn barbershop killing of Kevin Suttles