A Summit County, Ohio, jury handed down not-guilty verdicts on Sept. 25 for the two brothers linked to the death of 17-year-old Ethan Liming.
In June 2022, Liming was riding around with his friends in Akron, Ohio, shooting people with a gel gun, a non-lethal gun that contains pellets soaked in water, when things went awry.
The group arrived at a parking lot and began striking Deshawn Stafford, his brother, Tyler, and their cousin Donovon Jones, who were playing basketball at the time outside of I Promise School started by NBA superstar LeBron James, according to Cleveland.com.
After getting shot in the face, Deshawn confronted Liming, which sparked a fight and led his family members to join him, the outlet reported. Deshawn knocked Liming out during the altercation, leading him to hit his head on the ground, resulting in his death.
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An autopsy report revealed that Liming’s cause of death was due to blunt force head injuries and was ruled a homicide, WKYC reported. First responders found him unresponsive at the scene.
The Stafford brothers and Jones were arrested, charged with murder, and held for $1 million. However, per the outlet, the charges were reduced in August 2022. On Monday, Deshawn, 21, and his 20-year-old brother, Tyler, were cleared on the involuntary manslaughter charges, WKYC reported, but both brothers were found guilty of assault.
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Deshawn was also convicted of an additional charge of aggravated assault, and his bond was revoked immediately. There was notably a mistrial for one of Deshawn’s charges, another count of involuntary manslaughter, and it is not known if he will be retried on that charge, according to the outlets. Their cousin, Jones, who was reportedly charged with two counts of assault, pleaded no contest and was convicted.
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