At the time, Vance and his family were not at the property. They were in Washington, D.C.
Authorities say Secret Service personnel encountered DeFoor after he moved along the front perimeter of the residence.
According to federal charging documents, DeFoor was carrying a hammer and repeatedly struck the driver’s-side window of an unmarked federal law enforcement vehicle.
He allegedly then turned his attention toward the windows of the vice president’s home.
Law enforcement officers ordered him to put down the hammer, but prosecutors say he refused to comply with their commands.
Secret Service agents ultimately took DeFoor into custody.
Federal prosecutors estimated that the incident resulted in roughly $28,000 in damage to government-owned property, adding another significant element to a case that began with an unusual and potentially dangerous confrontation outside the home of a sitting vice president.
U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II delivered a strong warning when announcing DeFoor’s guilty plea.
‘Acts of violence directed against our political leaders, their families, or property, have no place in our society and will not be tolerated. Our elected leaders, at all levels of government, must be permitted to carry out their duties free from threats, vandalism, and other forms of violence,’ Gerace said.
‘Perpetrators like DeFoor, who put that freedom at risk, particularly through violent, destructive actions, will, like here, be vigorously prosecuted.’
But DeFoor’s defense has presented a dramatically different picture of what happened.
His attorneys have maintained that the incident was not politically motivated and had ‘nothing to do with the specifics of the vice president.’
Instead, his legal team has emphasized DeFoor’s long-running mental health struggles. His attorneys have pointed to a schizophrenia diagnosis and previous periods of psychiatric treatment as important factors in understanding his conduct.
His mother, Catherine DeFoor, also described the severity of his condition in a statement earlier this year.
‘It is a struggle which can take over the life of a beautiful person and the people who love and support them,’ she said.
‘Unfortunately for our child, it has taken over his life in a way that we can never have imagined.’
DeFoor’s legal history includes earlier encounters with the justice system.
In 2023, he faced a trespassing charge connected to the University of Cincinnati Health Psychiatric Emergency Services. A court later determined that he was incompetent to stand trial, and the case was dismissed.
The following year, DeFoor was charged with two vandalism offenses after windows at a local business were broken. He was ordered to undergo treatment.
His mother was subsequently granted legal guardianship after another finding that mental illness had rendered him incompetent.
As the federal case proceeded, DeFoor’s attorneys repeatedly argued that he should not remain behind bars while awaiting the outcome of the proceedings.
In one filing, his defense team attempted to characterize the incident as the product of an acute mental health crisis rather than deliberate violence.
‘Mr. DeFoor’s alleged offense conduct was using a hammer to damage two windows and a car and refusing to listen to the orders of Secret Service Agents,’ defense attorneys argued in a motion.
‘Put more succinctly, while in the midst of an ongoing mental health crisis a young person damaged property and did not listen to someone shouting at him.’
The attorneys further argued that the fact the incident occurred at Vance’s residence was what transformed an otherwise unusual episode into a nationally significant federal case.
‘These circumstances are only noteworthy for one reason; it just so happens that this occurred at the home of the Vice President,’ his legal reps added.
They also rejected the idea that the incident demonstrated an inherently violent character.
‘While in the midst of a mental health crisis, Mr. DeFoor used a hammer to damage a home and a car. This is not the behavior of an inherently violent person, merely a person in crisis,’ defense attorneys argued.
DeFoor reportedly grew up in Cincinnati’s affluent Hyde Park neighborhood and is the child of two doctors.
His attorneys have said he had previously achieved stability while undergoing treatment and had begun pursuing a bachelor’s degree. According to his defense, his symptoms worsened again in December 2025.
A judge ultimately rejected the request for DeFoor to await trial at his parents’ residence. Douglas R. Cole ordered that he remain in federal detention while the case moved forward.
Now, with the guilty plea entered, the case is moving toward sentencing.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said a sentencing date will be set at a later time.
Despite references elsewhere to a possible 20-year sentence, the source material in this case states that DeFoor faces up to 10 years in federal prison for the offenses to which he pleaded guilty.
The guilty plea closes one chapter of the unusual case, but the sentencing phase will determine what consequences DeFoor ultimately faces for the damage and confrontation at the vice president’s Ohio property.
