Trial in man's chokehold death after FC Cincinnati match likely delayed until 2025

A man seen on video attacking an FC Cincinnati fan on an Over-the-Rhine street last year– an act that led to the fan’s death – could raise self-defense as an issue, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

A trial, however, likely won't happen until next year, after a Hamilton County judge granted Lavontez Davis’ request for new court-appointed attorneys.

Davis, 24, was expected to stand trial beginning Tuesday on charges including murder and strangulation. Instead, his attorneys told Common Pleas Judge Terry Nestor that there was “a breakdown in communication” on Tuesday morning and that Davis had decided to request new attorneys.

Davis will continue to be held at the Hamilton County Justice Center. He has been jailed since his arrest in October 2023 on a $1 million bond. Nestor said the trial likely will happen next year.

“We respect that decision,” one of his attorneys, Monika Roth, said.

In court Tuesday, Assistant Prosecutor Jeff Heile told Nestor that the defense recently turned over new photos and that it was a “grey area” as to whether “self-defense is applicable in this case.”

Man choked until he lost consciousness

The incident happened the night of Oct. 4, 2023, after an FC Cincinnati match at TQL Stadium. Much of it was captured on video.

Jason McKinnon and his wife were walking along East 14 ^th Street, near Vine Street, when he shouted at a woman driving an SUV that she was about to turn the wrong way on East 14 ^th Street.

That woman and McKinnon then began shouting at each other. Davis, who was with the woman, walked up to McKinnon, punched him in the face and body-slammed him to the sidewalk.

Davis eventually placed McKinnon in a chokehold, according to prosecutors, until McKinnon lost consciousness.

One man can be heard saying, apparently to Davis, “Stop, stop, stop, stop.” Several other people also approached and pleaded with Davis to release McKinnon. The 48-year-old McKinnon died four days later. The coroner’s office determined the cause of death was homicide by means of neck compression.

Another of Davis’ attorneys, Josh Hitch, told a judge last year during an arraignment that Davis believed he was defending himself and his pregnant girlfriend.

McKinnon's family released a statement last year, saying in part that he was killed "in an unprovoked assault."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Trial in man's chokehold death after FC Cincinnati match likely delayed until 2025