CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The 27-year-old Cleveland man charged for allegedly causing a deadly car accident this month will face a judge Saturday morning.

Gerrod White is charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated vehicular assault.

At his arraignment Saturday morning in Cleveland Municipal Court, White’s bond was set at $250,000.

White was also arraigned for a domestic charge, and his bond was set at $50,000.

“He has an extensive history of violence… He not only punched his girlfriend in that incident, he stomped her as well. In regards to the aggravated vehicular homicide and assault, he indicated to officers that he wasn’t going to jail because he ‘always gets off’ and he repeated that multiple times after striking the vehicle head-on resulting in the death of the passenger where she was engulfed in flames and died in the vehicle and the driver was ejected,” the prosecutor said as White shook his head in court on video.

White can also be seen wearing a neck brace while on the video call.

White will be back in court on Aug. 6.

Cleveland police said White was speeding eastbound on St. Clair Avenue when he ran a red light at East 110th Street around 5:30 a.m. on July 21.

White’s vehicle crashed into a Ford Explorer, which was traveling on East 110th Street and had the green light.

The impact caused the Explorer to roll over and catch fire.

The driver, Krystal Mathis-Aaron, was ejected and seriously injured, according to the police report.

Mathis-Aaron’s front-seat passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. She was identified as Lakeitha Simmons, 50.

Minutes before the deadly crash, White also allegedly passed an ambulance that had its lights and sirens activated.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The newly renovated Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland celebrated its grand opening and expansion on Friday after an 18-month, $49 million project.

The revamped space boasts massive, sun-drenched ballrooms, flexible meeting rooms, and a rooftop terrace with stunning city views.

But the question remains: Can this revitalized venue compete with larger convention centers in cities like Las Vegas and Chicago?

The former Global Center for Health Innovation, once considered a “ghost town,” has been transformed into a modern event space.

A spokesperson for the convention center said the failed Medical Mart project provided an opportunity to “reimagine that space as part of the convention center.”

The county hired a third-party company to assess the best use of the space, ultimately deciding that bigger, more flexible convention space was the key to attracting major events and boosting the local economy.

Mayor Justin Bibb hailed the renovation as “an amazing example of Cleveland’s economic comeback.” The center has already booked 62 future events, showing promising signs of success.

However, Cleveland faces stiff competition. Las Vegas boasts 3 million square feet of exhibit space and hosts over 20,000 conventions annually.

Chicago’s McCormick Place has 2.6 million square feet, and even San Antonio’s convention center offers over half a million square feet.

While the Huntington Convention Center has seen a slight increase in conferences this year, hosting 59 compared to 55 during the same period last year, it remains to be seen whether this makeover is enough to secure Cleveland’s position as a prime convention destination.

19 News will continue to follow this story and assess the impact of this major investment on Cleveland’s economy.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio—Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, won Ohio in both 2008 and 2012 with the help of minority and younger voters in the state’s largest cities.

This year, Vice President Kamala Harris is aiming to become the nation’s second Black president — and the first woman president. But even if Harris can generate the same voter enthusiasm that got Obama elected here, few think she has a shot of winning Ohio in November.