An Ohio jury has convicted Olivia Marie Clendenin after prosecutors said she opened fire outside a New Year’s house party where her estranged husband and new boyfriend had just learned about each other. The shooting happened around dawn on Jan. 1, 2025, at a home on Dearth Road near Springboro. Investigators said eight rounds from a .40-caliber handgun struck the house and porch, wounding a 29-year-old guest in the abdomen. Clendenin fled but crashed a vehicle nearby before she was taken into custody, officials said.
Jurors in Warren County Common Pleas Court found Clendenin, now 29, guilty of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault and illegal discharge of a firearm into a habitation. Prosecutors said the case hinged on testimony from partygoers, officers who processed the scene and medical records documenting the victim’s injuries. The verdict, reached last week and announced publicly this week, moves the case to sentencing, where Clendenin faces a potential yearslong prison term. Authorities said the wounded guest was not part of the dispute and was seated on the porch when gunfire tore through the area. Officials have not released the man’s name. The conviction capped a yearlong court process that began with an arrest the day after the shooting and included motions on evidence, ballistics and recorded statements.
According to investigators and trial testimony, the gathering spanned New Year’s Eve into the early morning hours. Guests told police that tensions rose after the estranged husband and the boyfriend, both invited to the party, realized they had been in relationships with the same person. Witnesses said Clendenin tried to persuade her husband to leave and left the home after an argument. Minutes later, gunfire erupted from outside the residence. Detectives recovered eight spent .40-caliber casings and documented bullet strikes to the front door and siding, along with blood on the porch steps where the bystander collapsed. First responders treated the man and rushed him to a hospital for emergency surgery. “An innocent person was nearly killed,” Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said after the verdict. Neighbors awakened by the shots described a brief burst of noise, then sirens in the quiet subdivision.
Police and prosecutors said the shooter drove away in an SUV registered to a family member and crashed a short distance from the scene. Officers detained Clendenin without further incident and collected a handgun for forensic review. During the investigation, technicians matched shell casings to the recovered weapon and downloaded phone data to map movements around the property. The defense challenged portions of the timeline and questioned the reliability of late-night recollections from intoxicated witnesses. Jurors also heard from a trauma surgeon who described the abdominal wound and the risk of rapid blood loss. The victim survived; officials declined to provide an updated medical status a year later, citing privacy. The court admitted photos showing bullet holes clustered around the entryway and a diagram placing the victim on a porch chair at the time of the shooting.
Public filings show the case began with a 5 a.m. emergency call initially reported as a drive-by shooting. Clearcreek Township officers arrived to find a man bleeding and multiple impacts to the home. Within hours, investigators shifted to a targeted-shooter theory based on witness statements and video clips recorded by neighbors’ security cameras. A grand jury returned an indictment later in January 2025. Court schedules indicate repeated continuances for discovery, ballistic testing and witness availability through the fall. Jury selection started late last month, and testimony lasted several days. The panel deliberated for hours before returning guilty verdicts on all major counts. Fornshell said the evidence left “no doubt” that the rounds were fired toward people on the porch, a legal point central to the attempted murder charge.
Records and local coverage over the past year traced a steady docket of motions: defense requests to exclude certain statements made during a post-arrest interview, prosecution notices on expert witnesses, and a dispute over whether prior text messages could be admitted to show motive. The judge permitted limited references to the New Year’s argument while barring unrelated character claims. At trial, jurors viewed body-camera footage capturing the chaotic first minutes: officers bandaging the victim, shell casings glittering on the walkway and party debris scattered near the curb. A crime scene technician described photographing trajectories and using laser measurements to reconstruct angles from the street to the porch. Prosecutors said the pattern supported their theory of deliberate fire toward people, not random shots into the air.
Warren County officials said sentencing has not been scheduled but will follow a presentence investigation that gathers Clendenin’s background, criminal history and statements from the victim. Prosecutors said they will seek a lengthy term and noted that Ohio law allows consecutive sentences in some cases. Fornshell said he expects a punishment measured in years, not months. Defense attorneys declined to comment after the verdict and did not indicate whether they would appeal. Under standard procedure, the court will hear victim-impact remarks, consider mitigation and issue a written entry setting out prison terms and post-release control. The judge can order restitution for medical costs associated with the shooting. No additional defendants are charged in the case.
Residents along Dearth Road said the case has been a recurring topic at block gatherings since last winter. Several recalled attending a community meeting after the shooting where police explained how fast the first responders arrived and urged people to call when they hear gunfire. Neighbors who did not want to be named said the porch where the man was struck has been repaired, though a faint divot still marks one of the bullet impacts on the front steps. A man who lives a few doors down said he heard what sounded like firecrackers before cruisers raced into the cul-de-sac. “We woke up to lights and tape everywhere,” he said. Friends of guests at the party described a night that began with music and food and ended with chaos as officers cordoned off the yard and a helicopter circled overhead.
As of Friday, Clendenin remained convicted on all counts and in custody pending the next court date. The Warren County court docket shows the case awaiting a presentence interview and a hearing date to be set. Prosecutors said they will announce the sentencing date once the judge schedules it. The bystander wounded on the porch has not spoken publicly. Officials said further updates will come when the report is filed with the court and the sentencing hearing is posted on the calendar.
Author note: Last updated February 6, 2026.