No good deed goes unpunished.
James Bond found that out in the worst way.
An act of kindness turned tragic when Bond, 52, was shot three times − including once in the back of the head − after a struggle over a cell phone he loaned to a fellow Metro rider.
Think about that for a second.
A cell phone.
That’s what one man’s life was allegedly worth on a Cincinnati bus on a Friday afternoon. And if convicted, 27-year-old Leonte Coston may spend much of his own life behind bars over it.
One man dead. Another facing murder charges. A child on the way who may grow up without her father. Another grieving family preparing for a funeral. A community once again rattled by violence. One more stain on Cincinnati’s already battered perception of public safety.
All over a phone.
A city exhausted by senseless violence
I don’t know what has happened to this city and our society in general.
The moral decay is sickening. The lack of care for human life is heartbreaking. And our collective inability to get a handle on it is frustrating and exhausting.
I’m tired of the killings. I’m tired of the funerals. I’m tired of the senselessness of it all.
According to investigators, Bond lent Coston his phone while the two rode a Metro bus on May 16. Somewhere during that interaction, something went terribly wrong. Police say a struggle followed. Prosecutors allege Bond was shot twice in the torso and then once in the back of the head before Coston fled.
Coston’s attorney says the shooting may have been self-defense. And to be fair, like any criminal defendant, that claim deserves scrutiny through facts and due process in court, not instant conviction in the court of public opinion.
But what we know right now is devastating enough.
Bond is dead. And Cincinnati is once again left asking itself why life feels so cheap.
The Metro community is hurting
What struck me most were the comments from Cam Hardy, president of the Better Bus Coalition.
Hardy described Metro riders as a community. People who look out for one another. People who de-escalate conflicts. People who protect each other because they understand the reality of navigating public transit every day.
Hardy called Bond a hero, saying he appeared to be trying to protect fellow passengers once the gun came out.
“What that man did is indicative of what bus riders do every day,” Hardy told me. “We protect each other. We look out for each other.”
That matters. Because in all the political arguments over crime statistics, policing strategies and court policies, we sometimes forget there are ordinary Cincinnatians simply trying to get home from work, get to school, get to appointments, or just live their lives.
Now many of them are shaken.
Hardy said he had encountered Coston before and witnessed aggressive behavior on Metro buses, including one situation where Hardy himself stepped in and paid Coston’s fare to calm things down.
“I’ve seen him on the bus before, and he’s always turned up to 10,” Hardy said.
That observation will only intensify the questions many Cincinnati residents already have about repeat offenders, public safety and whether enough is being done to intervene before volatile situations turn deadly.
The ripple effects never stop
This case will now become another front in Cincinnati’s endless debate over crime and accountability.
Critics will point out that Coston was on parole for a 2023 drug conviction at the time of the shooting. Others will argue that one case should not define broader criminal justice policy. Metro will have to deal with the public relations fallout of a murder happening on one of its buses. And city leaders will once again be forced to answer questions about whether residents truly feel safe.
Meanwhile, another family plans a burial. Another homicide gets added to the tally. Another headline flashes across social media before the city inevitably moves on to the next crisis.
And perhaps the saddest thing of all is this: Deep down, most of us know this probably won’t be the last homicide in Cincinnati this year.
Maybe not even this week.
That’s a painful thing to admit about a city you love.
Opinion and Engagement Editor Kevin S. Aldridge can be reached at kaldridge@enquirer.com. On X: @kevaldrid.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bond’s death shows how cheap life has become in Cincinnati | Opinion
Reporting by Kevin S. Aldridge, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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