‘Senseless’: Man accused of killing Taco Bell manager a day after being fired, police say

CINCINNATI (WXIX/Gray News) - A man is under arrest in connection with the killing of a Taco Bell manager in Cincinnati.

Prosecutors revealed in court this week that Jonathan Morris, 21, was fired from the fast food restaurant on Gest Road in Queensgate the day before he gunned down the manager, identified as Ryan Johnson, just after midnight on Aug. 29.

Cincinnati police said they found Johnson down in the parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds that evening.

The 32-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

“They are devastated by this. It was senseless. We believe he [Johnson] was only trying to help [Morris],” Assistant Prosecutor David Hickenlooper said in court.

Hickenlooper asked Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Tyrone Yates to set Morris’ bond at $2 million.

The victim’s grandmother stood up and also addressed the judge: “He killed my grandson. He doesn’t need to be out.”

She requested no bond for Morris because “He took a life.”

Morris’ public defender noted that his client had only had one prior contact with the court and was acquitted. Plus, he cares for his 1-year-old son and lives with his father.

Judge Yates ended up setting Morris’ bond at $500,000 straight (full, not 10%). Should Morris be released, he would be under 24/7 house arrest with electronic monitoring.

“Prosecutors don’t set the bonds. Judges set the bail amount,” Judge Yates said following the hearing. “From our oldest case of law of the U.S. Constitution: ‘It is the province of the judicial department to say what the law (and the bond) is.”

Judge Yates is a former Cincinnati City councilman who serves on the State Criminal Sentencing Committee, chaired by the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.

“It is important to examine all of the facts and circumstances of every case in making a bond or bail decision.”