$4M bond for Clermont County murder suspect charged with woman’s shooting

CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) - A Clermont County judge set a $4 million bond Thursday for a suspect charged in the shooting death of a woman inside a car.

Ryan Vest, 30, is held at the Clermont County Jail on charges of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, and evidence tampering.

His next court date is Jan. 30 at 1 p.m.

Vest was arrested during a traffic stop in Union Township Wednesday night in connection with the homicide of 39-year-old Casey Hamblin Moss late Tuesday.

It was the second fatal shooting in Clermont County in a little over a week related to a dispute over money.

At about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday night, Clermont County deputies say they received a 911 call from a woman stating that her son arrived at a home in the 300 block of Magnolia Drive in Batavia Township with his girlfriend, Moss, who had been shot.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

“This incident stemmed from a drug transaction, a dispute over money, which led to a chase and inevitably the shooting incident,” Clermont County Sheriff Chief Deputy Chris Stratton wrote in a news release Wednesday morning.

Court records filed by detectives elaborate, stating a passenger in a car with Moss told them Moss was shot by someone they knew as “Ace” after they purchased drugs from him at the Wendy’s near Bach Buxton Road.

The sheriff’s office identified the passenger in a previous news release as Moss’ boyfriend.

“After purchasing the drugs and leaving Wendy’s, ‘Ace’ believed he was shorted money and demanded they bring the drugs back to him. He pursued them around the area, in another vehicle, then pulled up side by side on Bach Grove Court,” the criminal complaint states.

The passenger told detectives one gunshot was fired from the vehicle that “Ace” was driving into theirs, striking Moss once in the head, according to the court record. He said he fled with Moss to Magnolia Drive.

The vehicle involved in the shooting, a 2008 Acura MDX (SUV), still has not been recovered, sheriff’s officials say.

Anyone who sees it is urged to contact the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office at 513-732-7510 or Sgt. Nick Crouch at 513-781-2256.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2023 WXIX. All rights reserved.