Ohio jury convicts Matthew Exton of attempted murder in restaurant

A Lucas County jury convicted former Ohio attorney Matthew Exton, 43, of attempted murder on Sept. 4 for pointing a loaded handgun at his ex-wife inside a crowded Toledo restaurant, an attack prosecutors said was stopped because the weapon's safety was still engaged.

A waiter, Tracy Cole Jr., tackled Exton before he could try again, and other employees and diners helped pin him to the floor until police arrived. The Colt Defender he carried held one round in the chamber and seven more in the magazine, the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office said. Exton was also convicted of two counts of felonious assault and multiple firearm specifications, and acquitted of one remaining felonious assault count.

What happened at Sabira

Sabira, a Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Toledo, was celebrating its opening night on April 11, 2025. Exton had ordered a drink at the bar inside Souk restaurant next door, and as he left he saw his ex-wife dining with members of her family, according to Lucas County Prosecuting Attorney Julia R. Bates.

He walked into Sabira, ordered a drink at the bar to be sent to their table and spat toward the group on his way out, Bates said. He returned with the handgun and headed directly toward the table, where he tried to shoot his ex-wife. The weapon did not fire.

Video released by the prosecutor's office showed Exton walking toward the table and taking a handgun from his pocket, NBC News reported. His ex-wife yelled "gun," and the waiter could be seen tackling him moments later. The footage from inside the restaurant was played for jurors during the trial, and prosecutors made it central to their case.

Exton's ex-wife told authorities that he pointed the gun at her chest and pulled the trigger multiple times, according to a petition for a protection order she filed two days after the encounter. "The gun made rapid 'click' noises as he pulled the trigger," she wrote in a statement included in the petition, NBC News reported.

Prosecutors call it a public execution

Bates's office announced the conviction in a news release, saying Exton had not gone to Sabira for a meal. Prosecutors told jurors that the loaded weapon, the attempt to fire it and the packed dining room supported the attempted murder charge.

The defendant did not come with the intention of having a meal. He came with anger in him and with the intention to commit a public execution of his ex-wife at the restaurant that day.

Bates praised the restaurant workers and customers who stepped in during the confrontation, calling them heroes. "Nothing in their training and soft openings at the restaurant could have prepared the staff for what walked through that door," she said. She said she hoped the jury's decision provided some sense of closure for those seated at the table and for the Sabira employees who were also victimized that day.

A second prosecutor pressed jurors on the risk to everyone else in the room. "He was not there for a relationship-building effort," Assistant Prosecutor Rose Mary Mock said during the trial, according to The Daily Wire. "When you fire a deadly weapon, or attempt to fire a deadly weapon, in a public place, you put everyone's lives at risk."

The public execution phrase was the prosecution's characterization of Exton's alleged intention, not language in the jury's verdict, IBTimes noted. Jurors returned the verdict on Sept. 4, 2026, after a trial built on the surveillance video and testimony from witnesses in the dining room.

Exton testified he did not fire

Exton testified in his own defense. He told jurors he had worked as a prosecutor in Michigan and was licensed to practice law in Ohio, handling divorce, family and bankruptcy cases, and that he became homeless after he split up with his wife, NBC News reported. The couple divorced in 2024, according to court records.

He said he was frustrated by how she had handled parts of the divorce when he drew the Colt Defender inside the downtown restaurant, and that he pointed it only to show he was serious about her following a court order. He denied trying to shoot her. "I did not fire," he said. "I did not hurt her. I did not try to hurt her."

Exton told the court that the prompt sale of the couple's former home was his "primary interest" during the divorce and estimated the property was worth about $450,000, IBTimes reported. He said he had been homeless after leaving the house and needed money to establish a place to live. He said he sent the drink and spat "to be a jerk" because he was frustrated.

Exton pursued an insanity defense before trial. A judge ruled that he had not been suffering from a severe mental disease or defect at the time of the incident and rejected the defense before the case reached the jury, IBTimes reported.

Removed from the courtroom during closings

Exton was removed from the courtroom during closing arguments after repeatedly interrupting prosecutors, and he watched the verdict from a holding area, according to The Independent's account of the proceedings.

Waiter and diners stopped the attack

Tracy Cole Jr., a waiter working Sabira's opening night, ran at Exton and brought him to the floor as he fumbled with the safety, according to surveillance footage shown to the jury. Cole helped secure the firearm, and other employees and diners moved in to restrain Exton until officers arrived. Prosecutors credited the intervention with helping prevent a fatal attack.

• Convicted Sept. 4, 2026, of attempted murder and two counts of felonious assault
• Acquitted of one remaining count of felonious assault
• Weapon was a Colt Defender, one round chambered and seven in the magazine
• Law license suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court on May 6, 2025
• Sentencing scheduled for Sept. 21, 2026

The Ohio Supreme Court imposed an immediate interim remedial suspension on Exton's law license on May 6, 2025, less than a month after the incident, barring him from practicing while the criminal proceedings continued. The Toledo Bar Association, which sought the suspension, said he posed a substantial threat of serious harm to the public. He had kept law offices in Sylvania and Traverse City.

The restaurant praised the response of its employees and customers at the time. "We are deeply grateful for the swift and courageous actions taken by our team, our patrons, and the Toledo Police Department in response to an isolated domestic incident which occurred at one of our establishments on Friday evening," the restaurant said in a statement at the time, reported by 13abc, adding that the situation was resolved thanks to their quick intervention.

Sentencing set for September 21

Exton is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 21, 2026. Sentencing enhancements are linked to all three of the convictions, the prosecutor's office said, and IBTimes reported that he faces a potentially lengthy prison term. The Daily Wire reported that he could end up behind bars for up to 25 years.

Exton's former wife testified that she believed she was about to die when the gun was aimed at her. "I knew I was dead," she said, according to The Toledo Blade's trial coverage. A Sabira employee also took the stand and described the confrontation and a coworker's actions.

Prosecutors argued that Exton had been driven by anger over the breakup of the marriage and a continuing property dispute. His defense attorney, Ronnie Wingate, told the court that Exton's circumstances had collapsed before the incident, going from being all right to living out of the trunk of his car or staying with a friend who let him stay for a while.

The surveillance footage resurfaced after the conviction and circulated widely, with Cole praised for how quickly he reacted when he realized the woman was in immediate danger, IBTimes reported. What prosecutors said could have been a fatal shooting was over within seconds, stopped by a safety catch that stayed engaged and a waiter who was working the room. The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-7233.