Inset: James Brown (Cincinnati Police Department). Background: The intersection where a mother and her two daughters were shot on Christmas Day, 2025, in Cincinnati, Ohio (Google Maps).
An Ohio resident, charged with shooting a mother and her two children on Christmas Day, asserts that he acted in self-defense.
James Brown, 58, faces three counts of felony assault, as reported by the Cincinnati Police Department.
The incident unfolded in the early hours of December 25, near Central Avenue and Kindel Avenue in Cincinnati’s West End neighborhood.
According to police, gunfire erupted just before 3 a.m. Officers who arrived at the scene discovered a 36-year-old woman and her daughters, aged 10 and 15, all suffering from gunshot injuries.
Residents in the area reported hearing disturbances that night, as detailed by Cincinnati’s NBC affiliate WLWT and Newport, Kentucky’s Fox affiliate WXIX, which also covers the metropolitan area.
Some witnesses claimed to have heard arguing prior to the shooting incident.
“You don”t want to hear that happened to, like, a mom and two kids,” a man told WLWT. “It’s kind of sad.”
Others recalled the din in the aftermath.
“She was laying on that horn maybe for help,” a woman told WXIX. “I didn’t know if someone was dead and fell on it. That’s what I thought but I guess she was laying on it for help, but by that time, the cops were here like that.”
About eight shots were fired during the incident, the woman said. Eventually, the neighbor saw the mother raise her knees.
“I was like, ‘Yes, yes, hold on sister, yes,’” she told the TV station.
The mother was rushed to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and her children were taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, police said. Their injuries were said to be non-life-threatening.
Authorities noted the presence of a silver Chevrolet Impala leaving the scene, a police spokesperson told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
While law enforcement initially said they could determine neither motive nor connection between Brown and the victims, court records obtained by WXIX and the Enquirer suggest a lengthy history.
As it turns out, Brown was previously accused of assault in four separate cases involving the same woman since 2022. In each instance, however, those charges were dismissed.
On the day after Christmas, Brown appeared in court with his defense attorney, the newspaper reported. During that proceeding, Brown’s attorney said a person inside the woman’s car shot at his client first and he responded in kind, according to a courtroom report.
Prosecutors took note of Brown’s familiarity with the legal system, saying he has a history of assault, domestic violence and aggravated menacing.
During the arraignment, Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Brad Greenberg set the defendant’s bond at $900,000.
Brown is being detained in the Hamilton County Justice Center.
A grand jury is now set to hear the case and decide whether to move forward with an indictment, prosecutors said.
