Man who asked neighbor to call 911 before Halloween fatal shooting admits pulling trigger

A Covington man has admitted shooting and killing another man outside his home last Halloween.

Prosecutors said Robert Hartman asked a neighbor to call 911 before he shot and killed 51-year-old Patrick Sand.

“You don’t want to know,” Hartman told his neighbor, according to prosecutors’ retelling of the encounter during a November preliminary hearing.

Hartman, 33, pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter in Kenton County Circuit Court. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors reduced his original murder charge to manslaughter and are recommending a 10-year prison term.

When police arrived at Hartman's home in the 4000 block of Church Street in Latonia on the afternoon of Oct. 31, they found Sand dead in the driveway with a gunshot wound to the face.

Hartman told responding officers that he shot Sand and pointed them to the pickup truck where they’d find the handgun he used, according to investigators.

While Hartman did not explain why the shooting happened, witnesses told police the two men had been arguing throughout the day, according to investigators.

Hartman and Sand were living together in one of the two houses on the Church Street property, a detective said during last year’s hearing, adding police found a picture on Hartman’s phone from four days prior in which Hartman was pointing a gun at Sand’s head while he was sleeping.

Before his death, Sand was inside the home with the gun and talking about harming himself when Hartman took the weapon from him, the detective said. A round was fired indoors, prompting Sand’s dog to attack a woman who was also inside the home. She suffered serious injuries and was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for treatment.

Hartman later went to his neighbor and asked her to call for help before returning to his home to shoot and kill Sand, according to prosecutors.

While Hartman’s attorneys previously said he acted in self-defense, prosecutors said Sand was unarmed and several feet away from Hartman when he was shot. However, a witness did tell police that Sand assaulted Hartman in the past.

“I tried to stop him,” Hartman said in court Thursday.

Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders previously said there’s nothing to suggest Hartman was defending himself, adding the state’s “stand your ground” law doesn’t apply because Hartman “successfully exited the scene of whatever was going on prior to the shooting.”

Hartman’s attorney declined to comment when reached by The Enquirer. He’s expected to appear before Judge Kate Molloy for sentencing July 11.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Covington man pleads in killing where he asked neighbor to call 911