Family living a ‘nightmare’ after landscaper killed in ‘broad daylight’

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - The family of a landscaper killed Tuesday in Corryville says the days since his death have been a “nightmare.”

Nicholas Kernan was working when he was shot in the head during an attempted robbery, according to the police report and his employer, Uptown Rental Properties.

“Nicholas was at work putting mulch down, making our city a more beautiful place, and gets murdered in broad daylight in the middle of the afternoon just for doing his job,” his stepdaughter, Katie Duncan, said Friday.

The person who shot the landscaper has not been caught.

“We do have an individual that’s out there that we consider armed and dangerous,” explained Cincinnati Police Lt. Jonathan Cunningham.

Kernan’s family and Uptown Rental Properties are still trying to come to terms with just how random of an act this killing was.

“It feels like a nightmare,” Duncan described Friday. “We are profoundly sad, and if something like this can touch us, it can happen to anyone.”

President of Uptown Rental Properties Dan Schimberg helped create a GoFundMe for the Kernan family. The company is also offering a $10,000 reward for any information that helps lead to an arrest and Crime Stoppers is offering an additional reward of $2,500.

Kernan was killed less than a week before turning 44 years old on Memorial Day.

Instead of planning a birthday celebration, they are pleading for justice.

Duncan says her stepfather had a big heart and even after his death, is continuing to help others.

“Nicholas is an organ and tissue donor and as of yesterday about 100 donor recipients have received the gift of life,” Duncan said.

Police are asking people living near Bellevue Avenue to check their doorbell cameras or other surveillance cameras to see if they notice anything odd or different between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Cincinnati Police Homicide Unit is investigating. Call 513-352-3542 if you have any information.

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