Jurors rejected Cole Hornsby’s self-defense claim after hearing that Theodore “Ted” Block was shot repeatedly as he walked away from an argument near the men’s homes.

CINCINNATI, Ohio — A Hamilton County judge sentenced Cole Hornsby to 24 years to life in prison after a jury found he murdered his neighbor, Theodore “Ted” Block, in Whitewater Township, where prosecutors said a dispute over gunfire ended with Block being shot from behind in front of his wife.

The sentence closes the trial phase of a case that drew attention in the Cincinnati area because it turned a neighborhood argument into a life sentence. Hornsby, 26, was convicted in January of murder and tampering with evidence after prosecutors said he killed Block on April 16, 2024, then hid the gun and later claimed he acted in self-defense. The ruling also marked the latest public step for Block’s family, who said the 40-year-old husband, father and grandfather was unarmed and trying to protect relatives nearby when he was killed.

Investigators said deputies and emergency crews were called that night to the 5000 block of Kilby Road, a rural stretch in Whitewater Township on the far western side of Hamilton County. When first responders arrived, they found Block on the ground and pronounced him dead at the scene. A detective later wrote that witnesses described Hornsby approaching Block and starting a verbal dispute before pulling a gun and firing multiple times. One witness told authorities Hornsby used a profanity toward Block just before opening fire. Prosecutors said the argument grew out of Hornsby firing a large muzzleloader rifle near his home. Block, who was babysitting young grandchildren with his wife, went next door and told Hornsby to stop. According to trial reporting, Block then said he would call police and began walking back toward his own property when the shooting started.

At trial, the state’s account focused on the direction of the gunfire and the number of shots. Prosecutors said Hornsby shot Block 12 times in the back. A forensic expert testified that at least one round was fired into the middle of Block’s back while Block was face down on the ground, a detail the state used to attack Hornsby’s self-defense claim. Block’s wife, Krissy Block, witnessed the shooting and later testified before the jury. Her account placed the killing in full view of family members during what should have been an ordinary evening at home. Investigators also said Hornsby hid the firearm in a shed after the shooting, which formed the basis for the evidence-tampering charge. Defense lawyers argued for a far lighter sentence after conviction, but the court sided with prosecutors, who had asked for the maximum allowed punishment.

The case also carried weight because of what it suggested about escalation between neighbors. Local reporting said Block’s family told jurors the men had argued before, though not like the confrontation that ended in gunfire. What remains less clear from the public record is how long the dispute over weapons use had been building and whether either man had made earlier complaints to law enforcement. Court coverage has instead centered on the final minutes of the encounter: a man objecting to nearby gunfire, a threat to call police, and a burst of shots that prosecutors said struck an unarmed victim as he tried to leave. That sequence shaped the jury’s verdict and the judge’s sentence because it undercut the core defense argument that Hornsby fired to protect himself from imminent harm.

The legal path now is much narrower. Hornsby has been convicted of murder and tampering with evidence, and Judge Jennifer Branch ordered him to serve a sentence of 24 years to life in state prison. Earlier coverage said he also faced a felonious assault count during the case, but the sentence announced in court rested on the murder conviction and the evidence charge after the January verdict. Any next step would likely come through post-trial motions or an appeal, not a new trial date. For Block’s relatives, the sentencing hearing served as the last major public courtroom event in the case unless higher courts take it up. During that hearing, his daughter Alyiah Block urged the court to impose the maximum sentence, describing Hornsby as a danger who had shown no real acceptance of responsibility.

Family and prosecutors used the sentencing hearing to frame the case not only as a homicide, but as a preventable one. Alyiah Block said her father was killed for no valid reason and rejected the idea that the shooting was an act of self-defense. Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich said afterward that no sentence could bring Block back, but that the ruling would protect the community for as long as possible. Those statements gave the hearing a sharper emotional edge than the technical language of affidavits and jury instructions. They also returned attention to Block himself: a 40-year-old man whose relatives said he had been looking after grandchildren that night, and whose death unfolded not in a bar fight or on a dark roadside, but within sight of home.

Now the case stands at the point where the verdict has been entered, the sentence has been imposed, and any future movement would come from the appeals process. For now, Hornsby remains bound to a prison term that keeps him behind bars for at least 24 years before parole eligibility, and Block’s family has the finality of a sentence even without the finality of repair.

Author note: Last updated March 25, 2026.