Naman Shrestha
When Rashawn Berry opened his front door in February 2000, he did not expect to get shot to death in broad daylight. The episode titled ‘Hunting the Hunter’ of ‘Good Cop, Bad Cop’ delves into the details of the shocking case, including the investigation that followed and the interviews of the victim’s loved ones. After the authorities heard several credible testimonies and found a portion of surveillance footage of the neighborhood where the crime occurred, they were led right to the perpetrator.
How Did Rashawn Berry Die?
Rashawn Berry was born in the 1970s, possibly into a loving family. Along with his parents, he grew up with his sister, Jeanette Berry, with whom he seemingly shared a close-knit bond. Upon completing his studies and starting work, he moved to an apartment in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he supposedly used to live independently.
As per Jeanette’s testimony, on the fateful day of February 19, 2000, Rashawn was waiting in her apartment, at the 6900 block of Silverton Avenue, waiting for a friend named Mario Mitchell with whom he had plans to go out. Just when the clock was about to strike five in the evening, someone other than Mario pressed the buzzer of the apartment building, which sounded in the apartment. Rashawn was quick to go down the stairs of the building and unlock the entrance, only to be greeted by several gunshots.
As soon as Jeanette heard the loud noises, she hurried downstairs to find her brother bleeding and struggling to get back inside the building. While she stayed outside on the ground with him, the authorities arrived after a few minutes and started securing the area by setting up a perimeter around the crime scene. However, Rashawn Berry couldn’t be saved as he had suffered fatal gunshot wounds to critical parts of his body. Investigators scoured the neighborhood and searched for any piece of evidence that might lead them to the perpetrator.
Who Killed Rashawn Berry?
After the authorities delved deeper into the investigation and interrogated some neighbors, they found a few neighbors who claimed that they had seen a suspect fleeing the scene of the crime. Corroborating the details and descriptions of the testimonies, the investigators made a character sketch of the suspect — a male with a short, near haircut and a light mustache wearing a black, waist-length leather coat and light-colored blue jeans.
Furthermore, a white Jep Cherokee or something similar with tinted windows was reportedly seen speeding away from the area where Rashawn lay dead. Interestingly, reports suggest that the shooting of Rashawn was Silverton’s first homicide in a decade, which is what made it a shocking and unexpected tragedy. Soon, a man named Owen Hobbs became the prime suspect in the case. When he was linked to the case, they also found a connection between Rashawn and Hobbs’ ex-wife, Judy Hobbs — they both lived in the same building but in separate apartments.
According to the testimony of Judy, she was not home at the time of the shooting. Stating that they had been divorced, she claimed that Hobbs owned a couple of guns when they were married and that he was not allowed access to the house after the divorce. Next, the investigators interviewed Hobbs and questioned if he had ever threatened to kill his ex-wife or not, to which he replied, “I probably have.” In his defense, he also stated that on February 19, 2000, he was actually visiting Judy’s house to get money from her, and on the way, he came across two black males arguing when one of them pulled out a revolver. That was when he decided to flee the scene and heard gunshots, as per his claims.
However, Hobbs’ testimonies were overruled by testimonies of a couple of neighbors of the victim. Gina Speaks and her daughter, Amanda Speaks, who lived adjacent to the victim, testified against Hobbs and told the cops that they remembered the clothes of the culprit as well as the gray spot on the top of the head, which matched the description of the suspect at the time of the murder. Convinced that Hobbs was their man, the investigators tried their hardest to charge him with murder and possession of a firearm. Thus, thanks to the testimonies of the neighbors and a portion of video footage supporting the neighbors’ claims, the police had enough evidence against Hobbs and arrested him for the murder of 25-year-old Rashawn Berry.
How Did Owen Hobbs Die?
The authorities took the case of Rashawn Berry’s murder to a grand jury around May 2000. Upon hearing all the testimonies and watching the supporting video footage of the time of the murder that captured Owen Hobbs fleeing the scene, the jury didn’t take long before indicting him of murdering Rashawn right outside his Silverton apartment building. A couple of months later, in July 2000, he received a life-in-prison sentence for his crimes. As per the official records, he has since passed away. However, the cause of his demise remains unclear as of writing. We should mention that Owen was supposed to be paroled in 2018, so it’s also uncertain whether he died while he was still serving time or if it was following his release.
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