A third person has been arrested in the vicious mob beating of a white man and white woman early Saturday morning in downtown Cincinnati that garnered national attention after video of the attack went viral. A total of five suspects have been charged so far, with three now in custody.
The woman victim who was sucker punched and seen knocked out and bleeding from her mouth was revealed in court Wednesday to be Russian and that she flew home on Sunday, the day after the attack.
The third person arrested, Jermaine Matthews, 39, turned himself Tuesday evening and was arraigned Wednesday with two other suspects previously arrested in the case. Mattheews is being held on $75,000 bond on a charge of aggravated rioting and $25,000 bond for felony assault.
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Montianez Merriweather, 34, is being held bond of $300,000 for felonious assault, $100,000 on misdemeanor assault and $100,000 for aggravated rioting.
DeKyra Vernon, 24, is being held in a total of $200,000 bond on charges of felonious assault, misdemeanor assault and aggravated rioting.
The next court date in the case is scheduled for August 8.
Prosecutors alleged in court the two men conspired in the assault while the woman charged acted on her own in the mob attack, reported WXIX-TV (excerpt):
During their arraignments, Merriweather and Matthews were named by prosecutors as two suspects accused of coordinating the brawl that took place on Elm and Fourth streets July 27.
“Ultimately, we do have on video Mr. Merriweather walking up to co-defendant. He whispers something to him then walks back behind the victim,” a Cincinnati police detective testified.
The detective described their movements as “an ambush” or a “set up in a certain way.”
“They chase him and get him on the ground where they begin to punch and kick him on the ground. There’s a disengage. Merriweather goes after another gentleman behind another car and then he walks to the side and goes to the sidewalk while there’s a third assault occurring in the middle of the roadway,” explained the detective.
“As to Merriweather’s involvement in this, we believe he coordinated this with Mr. Matthews. He walked up to him on the video, whispered something to him and then strategically placed himself behind the victim as the assault began.”
Defense attorneys disputed the accounts by prosecutors.
Excerpt from WKRC-TV on the prosecutor’s case against Vernon, “The woman that was injured and knocked out, she was trying to turn her aid to another victim at the time,” said the detective. “She was rendering aid to another victim that was on the ground trying to get him back to his feet. He’s actually trying to get his pants back on because they beat his pants off of him. And while she’s rendering aid to that gentleman there, that’s when Ms. Vernon comes up and strikes her in the face. This, for no reason at all.”
More from the Cincinnati Enquirer (excerpt):
(Cincinnati police Detective Barney) Blank said that Vernon was a bystander watching the brawl when she approached and punched a Russian woman trying to protect someone on the ground. He said the woman returned to Russia over the weekend.
The detective said Vernon was not involved in any of the arguments that preceded the fight. “She just interjected herself into a brawl on the street,” Blank said.
Desiray Merriweather, Montianez Merriweather’s cousin, talked with reporters outside the courtroom after the July 30 hearing. She said that while she feels for the victims, including the woman who was knocked unconscious, she questions whether there would’ve been such a strong nationwide response if the victims had been Black.
…Montianez Merriweather’s family said he was spat on and called racial slurs in the lead-up to the brawl.
His cousin said people were out early in the morning partying during the weekend of the Cincinnati Music Festival, which in the past has been the largest annual weekend driver of tourism in the area.
“Both parties could have walked away,” she said. “It’s terrible how the world is nowadays.”
Video and screen image of the attack:
A violent mob in Cincinnati left a man and woman beaten unconscious
https://t.co/P4XVqoYhqd
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 27, 2025
A white couple was brutaIIy beaten at a jazz festival by a black “teen mob” in Cincinnati yesterday.
0 national coverage. pic.twitter.com/IgPnVYwbme
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 27, 2025
Video report on Wednesday’s court hearing by WLWT:
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