Oakley's year-to-date crime rate is still climbing, but the pace has slowed and the most recent four-week stretch brought a sharp drop in total incidents, according to the Cincinnati Police Department's latest neighborhood crime report published Aug. 9.
The report, covering data through Aug. 8, shows 426 Part 1 incidents so far in 2026, up 30.67% from 326 at the same point in 2025. That's a notable moderation from the 41% year-over-year increase we reported July 31, when the count stood at 403.
The most recent 28-day period, July 12 through Aug. 8, recorded 44 total incidents. That's down 30% from 63 in the preceding 28-day period.
Two homicides in a neighborhood that had none
The starkest change in the data: Oakley has recorded two homicides in 2026 after logging zero in all of 2025 and a three-year average of zero.
One of those cases landed in the current reporting period. CPD's block-level data lists a homicide on Thursday, Aug. 6, at the 2800 block of Madison Road. That incident is the death of 7-year-old William Evans, found dead inside a home after Cincinnati and Norwood police responded around 1:30 p.m. Three people, including the boy's biological mother Kaitlin Evans, 38, along with Nessa Keaney, 23, and Kirby Rankin, 33, are charged with murder and child endangerment. All pleaded not guilty and are held on $1.1 million bonds each, as we reported Sunday.
Neighbor Chris Papa, who lives across the street from the Madison Road home, told WLWT on Aug. 6 that he had never seen a child there. "I've seen people in and out of there, I've seen the dog getting walked, but I've never seen kids in the house," Papa said.
A grand jury is expected to hear the case by Monday, Aug. 17. A competency evaluation hearing for Rankin is scheduled for Sept. 4.
The neighborhood's second 2026 homicide appears to be a Jan. 27 shooting in the parking lot of the Steak 'N Shake at 4900 Ridge Avenue that killed 31-year-old Merris Kelley, based on WCPO reporting. One person was detained. The CPD report does not identify individual cases in its year-to-date totals.
Theft still drives the numbers
Personal and other theft remains the engine behind Oakley's overall increase: 344 incidents year-to-date versus 238 in 2025, a 44.54% jump. CPD's block-level data shows clusters of theft incidents concentrated on Geier Drive (3100–3200 blocks) and Marburg Avenue (4600 block), with multiple incidents on the same dates, suggesting repeat or organized activity at those locations.
Auto theft, meanwhile, has dropped 35.71%, from 28 incidents in 2025 to 18 this year.
One category bucked the broader 28-day improvement: theft from auto spiked to 11 incidents from three in the prior period, even as overall property crime fell about 31%.
Violent crime total flat, but composition shifts
Total violent crime in Oakley stands at five incidents year-to-date, unchanged from five in 2025. But the makeup is different: two homicides and one rape in 2026, compared to zero homicides, two robberies, one aggravated assault and two strangulations last year.
CPD notes the data are preliminary and subject to further review. No community meeting or CPD engagement event specific to the August data has been announced.
