The horrific beating death of Akron teenager Ethan Liming resulted in the acquittal of two brothers on charges of involuntary manslaughter. Before making a judgement, the jury debated for over three days. A Summit County grand jury lowered the original murder charges.
Liming sadly passed away next to the basketball courts at the LeBron James-supported “I Promise School” in Akron, Ohio. With the Stafford brothers, he and his buddies got into a friendly water-pellet gun fight that, regrettably, turned deadly.
The teen’s death was determined to be a homicide by the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office to have been brought on by blunt force trauma to the head.
“We were told that the males on the basketball court were playing basketball recreationally, so not seemingly bothering anyone at least at that point,” In an interview with ABC Cleveland last year, Lt. Michael Miller stated. “The victim [Liming] and/or the group that was with him – there a total of four inside the vehicle that they arrived in. And again, whether the suspect half-approached the car or members inside the car got out, but we do know in short order that…a fight ensued. And during that fight, the victim [Liming] was grounded – knocked to the ground – and then those significant injuries, etc. happened.”
Ethan Liming was trying to break up the brawl when he was slain, according to his father Bill Liming. “Teenagers were being teenagers, and I don’t want to say too much about the investigation,” Bill Liming said. “But apparently, some of his friends who were with him were fooling around in the parking lot, and some other people didn’t like it, and they went running back to Ethan’s car where he and his other friend were.”
The actual confrontation was then detailed by Mr. Liming. “Ethan still thought it was horseplay when he got out of the car and was trying to tell people, ‘It’s relaxed. It’s just a joke. It’s a joke.’ And the individuals didn’t like that,” Liming said. “One individual attacked him. Ethan still tried to tell them it’s just a joke. And then another individual came up behind them, struck him in the head. He was fighting back for his life. The detective told me that, ‘Your son fought for his life.’ It was not over like it was like a single punch, he fell down and hit his head. That’s not what happened…he was fighting for his life. And then a third individual came up behind him and they overwhelmed them and they knocked him out on the ground.”
While Liming was still alive, his pals apparently tried to transfer him, but the Stafford brothers reportedly stopped them. “His friends tried to help him and they drove them away eventually — not before calling 911. They called, they tried to get help for him,” Bill Liming said. “And when they couldn’t catch the one child that ran across a parking lot, they came back and finished my son off.”
The Stafford brothers were first accused of murder but were later charged with manslaughter.
DeShawn Stafford was found guilty of simple assault and aggravated assault; an involuntary manslaughter allegation was dismissed. Tyler was found guilty of assault but not of unintentional homicide.
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A 22-year-old male named Donovon Jones was taken into custody and charged in relation to a violent incident. He was given a 180-day suspended sentence after entering a no guilty plea to two charges of criminal assault.
On October 26, the Stafford brothers will be sentenced, and they might spend up to 2.5 years in prison.
