Soap Factory Worker’s Killers Receive More Than 60 Years in Prison

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A St. Bernard Soap Factory worker was shot and robbed while walking to work in Cincinnati June 28, 2016.
 
Police said James Tamplin died from the injuries he sustained after attempting to run back home and away from his attackers.
 
At the scene, investigators recovered cartridge cases and entered them into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN). NIBIN’s database houses millions of digital images of spent cartridge cases that were either found at crime scenes or test-fired from recovered weapons.
 
On July 6, 2016, Cincinnati Police pulled a car over with a stolen license plate. The occupants of the car were Coron Smith and Devarieh Riggins.
 
During a search of the vehicle, two firearms were recovered. Once the firearms were entered into the NIBIN and reviewed by the NIBIN National Correlation and Training Center, one of the guns matched the cartridge cases found at the scene of Tamplin’s murder.
 
Investigators charged both Smith and Riggins for Tamplin’s murder March 7, 2017. Prior to being charged for Tamplin’s killing, Smith was in jail awaiting trial for another murder. He was suspected of murdering Shear Dornal during a robbery July 23, 2016, and was being held on a bond of $1.2 million.
 
Smith was sentenced to 18 years for Tamplin’s murder Jan. 29, 2018, and Riggins was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison Feb. 2, 2018.
Last Reviewed November 2, 2018