MMA fighter accused of killing Airman in Panama City Beach charged with assault in Nashville

MMA fighter accused of killing Airman in Panama City Beach charged with assault in Nashville

A 24-year-old amateur MMA fighter accused of killing a U.S. Air Force Airman outside a Panama City Beach bar last April is now charged with assault in a similar incident in Nashville which dates back prior to the Panama City Beach incident.

Ross Allen Johnson of Carterville, Ill., is charged with manslaughter and aggravated battery in the death of 31-year-old Airman Dayvon Larry, who was stationed at nearby Tyndall Air Force Base when the incident outside Coyote Ugly Bar in Panama City Beach occurred.

Larry was found unconscious in the parking lot and was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Autopsy results ruled the cause of death as homicide by blunt force trauma.

According to police, witnesses and surveillance footage show Johnson punching Larry behind his left ear, with Larry then falling to the pavement. Witnesses also told police Johnson is an amateur MMA fighter, with three years of “advanced fighter training.”

Johnson has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge. He posted $250,000 bond and was released, with stipulations he have no contact with Larry’s family, stay away from Coyote Ugley, not possess or consume alcoholic beverages and submit to random drug and alcohol testing.

Johnson’s last court appearance in Florida was April 10 of last year, according to Bay County, Fla., court records.

The new charge against Johnson is aggravated assault from an incident at a Nashville bar which involved at least one member of the coaching staff of the University of Illinois baseball team, according to WMBB.

The incident in Nashville prior to the Panama City incident, according to the outlet, but Johnson was indicted by a Davidson County (Tenn.) grand jury this week. He was taken into custody and is awaiting extradition from Oklahoma to Nashville.