Four men involved in last year’s attacks of two University of Cincinnati students and a third person on Short Vine Street, near campus, were sentenced May 28 to prison terms.
A total of seven people – each with differing levels of involvement – have now been sentenced in the Sept. 13, 2025, attacks. One of the students was knocked unconscious and his jaw was broken.
None of the seven defendants attended the university, and they may not have known each other, prosecutors said. They had gathered on Short Vine through a social media app that helps people find spontaneous parties, Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Tyler Liston said in court.
Investigators determined that at least some of the defendants were involved earlier that evening in other violent confrontations, according to Liston.
At approximately 1:30 a.m., the three victims were walking home. One was carrying a pizza from a nearby pizzeria. As they walked by a crowd that had gathered on Short Vine, someone in the crowd asked for the pizza.
How the attack began
According to prosecutors, one of the three responded that they were just trying to go home. Words were exchanged before 21-year-old Kenneth Bolin struck one of the victims in the back of the head. Bolin then left.
Austin Smith, 20, approached that same victim and pistol-whipped him in the face, knocking him to the ground and breaking his jaw.
Another man, 19-year-old Deontae Conyers, kicked and stomped on that victim’s head.
Liston said multiple people, including Conyers, took photos of the victim while he was unconscious or returning to consciousness. Others also kicked him while he was on the ground.
The victim’s friend, a pre-med student, tried to shield him from the additional blows. He suffered a concussion.
A fourth defendant, 19-year-old Brayden Hall, struck the victim multiple times after he had regained consciousness and was trying to walk away. According to Liston, the victim bumped into Hall’s leg.
Hall then “unload(ed) haymakers on him,” Liston said, striking him in the jaw that already had been broken.
Judge imposed different sentences
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Winkler imposed the following prison terms on May 28:
Also on May 28, a fifth defendant, 19-year-old Joshua Ansteatt, was sentenced to three years of probation. Prosecutors said Ansteatt, who pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault, attacked the victim’s friend as he trying to protect him.
Earlier this month, 18-year-old Hayley Hornsby was sentenced to two years of probation. She had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge involving the female victim. Details about the seventh defendant’s case was not immediately available May 28.
In a statement, Prosecutor Connie Pillich, said the brutal attack had harmed the victims and robbed them of their sense of safety.
“The main instigators will spend significant time in prison, as they should,” Pillich said. “Let this be a warning, I do not take these attacks lightly – Downtown or anywhere else − and there will be consequences.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: App for spontaneous parties led to group attack, prosecutor says
Reporting by Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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