Trial for 2022 fatal Walmart shooting suspect will happen nearly 3 years after the incident

Two were shot, one was killed in Fairfield Twp. attempted robbery.
Anthony Brown, accused in the fatal shooting at Fairfield Twp. Walmart in 2022, appeared fir a hearing in Butler County Common Pleas Court Tuesday, July 11, 2023 in Hamilton. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Anthony Brown, accused in the fatal shooting at Fairfield Twp. Walmart in 2022, appeared fir a hearing in Butler County Common Pleas Court Tuesday, July 11, 2023 in Hamilton. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

A new trial date has been set for Anthony Brown, a suspect in the 2022 double shooting that left one person dead inside a Fairfield Twp. Walmart. It will take place nearly three years after a 35-year-old man was killed.

Brown, 34, of Hamilton, is accused of the shooting while trying to rob the store of cellphones on May 26, 2022. He was arrested within hours at a Middletown hotel after he fled the Walmart.

Brown was indicted by a grand jury for aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault and having weapons under disability for the double shooting that killed a customer at the Princeton Road store.

A trial was scheduled to begin in November in Butler County Common Pleas Court, but in July Brown’s third attorney Brad Kraemer filed a motion to withdraw from the case. In that motion he said “ethical issues” have arisen that made it impossible for him to continue to represent Brown, according to court documents.

Judge Dan Haughey permitted Kraemer to withdraw and told Brown the court is at the end of “its rope” with where to go to find a new court-appointed attorney. Because Brown was represented by an attorney from the county public defender’s office he must be represented by counsel that is not a part of that office.

Haughey told Brown when a new attorney is appointed, “Do your best to make it work.”

Hamilton County attorney Rodney Harris was assigned as Brown’s fourth attorney and in court Tuesday, Haughey set trial for May 12, 2025.

Brown is accused of shooting and killing Adam Black, 35, a Hamilton man who had recently moved to the area and who had just learned he was going to be a father. Brown also is accused of shooting and wounding Eric Ruff, 57, of Fairfield, a Walmart employee.

Brown was caught on multiple Walmart store cameras on May 26, 2022. He was seen being dropped off by his father and walking into the store, according to prosecutors.

Police investigate a fatal shooting at Walmart on Princeton Road in Fairfield Township Thursday, May 26, 2022. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

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Credit: Nick Graham

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