On July 24, 1916, prisoners of the Hamilton County Jail were temporarily housed at the Cincinnati Workhouse (3206 Colerain Avenue) due to construction of the Hamilton County Court House and Jail. Matron Hart was off duty at 4 p.m. and was walking through the fifth tier shortly after 5 p.m. In order to take Matron Hart’s keys and escape, Reuben Ellis waited in a bathroom for her to pass. As she did, he leaped out and struck her three times with a 1½” x 20” iron rod wrapped in a bed sheet, fracturing her skull. She was found by Jailer Harry Peet and Deputy Jailer Wuest ten minutes later, lying in a pool of blood, and taken to Cincinnati General Hospital.
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