Father accused of unintentionally firing gun, shooting 1-year-old in Northside enters not guilty plea

CINCINNATI — A 1-year-old child was shot in Northside on New Year’s Eve, according to Cincinnati police.

CPD said the shooting happened in the 1700 block of Casey Drive at around 8 p.m. Sunday night. The 1-year-old’s injuries “appear to be non-life-threatening,” CPD said, but they did not intially elaborate on what those injuries were, or the child’s condition.

Police arrested the boy’s father, 23-year-old Kayan Harvin Sr., in connection with the shooting.

Court documents say Harvin told police he was “manipulating a rifle chambered in .300 blackout” when the rifle went off, hitting the child in the face and hands “causing serious injuries.”

In court Tuesday morning, prosecutors revealed the bullet grazed the child on the head and that he underwent surgery on his hand. Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor David Wood said he is expected to be OK.

Wood also asked the judge to grant Harvin a high bond, claiming the man isn’t legally allowed to have a firearm.

“The defendant was adjudicated delinquent when he was a juvenile for burglary, which caused him to be under disability from possessing a firearm. In 2018 he was convicted as an adult for possessing a firearm under disability,” Wood said. “He’s very aware of his disability, particularly since he was charged with a second weapon under disability as an adult that was ignored by the grand jury.”

Illegal gun possession is one of five counts police charged Harvin with for the shooting. Others include negligent assault, endangering children, domestic violence and tampering with evidence.

Wood told the judge while driving to the hospital after the shooting, Harvin tossed the rifle.

“The defendant told police that when he first saw the police, he and the child’s mother and the child as they were headed to Children’s Hospital, he jumped out of the car to avoid being arrested and then he told police that he discarded the weapon near the Cincinnati State campus but couldn’t tell them exactly where.”

Harvin was represented by defense attorney Lindsay Alway on Tuesday. She entered a not guilty plea to all charges on Harvin’s behalf and argued the shooting was an accident.

Wood had a direct response to that claim.

“Respectfully, Your Honor, I would not say this is an accident, it is an unintentional consequence of the defendant violating the law,” he said.

Harvin was also separately represented on bond for an active aggravated menacing allegation brought against him in August 2023. In that case, prosecutors said Harvin followed a man in his car, pointing his gun at him and firing causing the victim “fear of physical harm.”

Though a warrant was filed in August, Harvin was formally arrested and charged on the allegation Sunday.

The judge kept that bond at $20,000. He also granted Harvin $50,000 for each of the five charges tied to the shooting for a total bond of $270,000.

As of Tuesday night, Harvin was still listed on the Hamilton County Jail’s inmate list.

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