Three Men Arrested For Fatal Beating Of Akron Teenager In LeBron James’ I Promise School’s Parking Lot

U.S. Marshals and Ohio police have taken three men into custody accused of the fatal beating of 17-year-old Ethan Liming, who was found in the parking lot of LeBron James‘ I Promise School early June, NBC News reported.

Ethan Liming (Image: Akron Public Schools)

Deshawn Stafford Jr., 20, Tyler Stafford, 19, and Donovon Jones, 21 were arrested by the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force and Akron Police Saturday morning at two different locations in Akron, Ohio, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Authorities arrested three men in the death of Ethan Liming. Clockwise from bottom-left: Tyler Stafford, Donovan Jones, Deshawn Stafford Jr.
(Image: U.S. Marshals Service)

Liming, a high school senior, died June 2 around 10:46 p.m. from blunt force trauma to the head following a fight. Authorities said the teen was riding around with his friends and shooting a water gun at bystanders and “that in the moments leading up to the incident, one or more occupants in the [Liming] ‘s vehicle were riding around the surrounding area shooting a SplatRBall Water Bead Blaster at objects and possibly unsuspecting people,” according to a statement reported by Fox News.

Police reported at least one occupant in Liming’s vehicle was “shooting a SPLATRBALL Water Bead Blaster” at unsuspecting people which led to the altercation. Image Source:
Akron Police Department

Liming and his associates then drove to the basketball courts and “targeted or approached the subjects who were on the court and fired the gel soft gun at them,” causing the accused killers to become agitated, according to the New York Post.

However, there is no confirmation that Liming fired the SplatRBall gun after he and his friends arrived at the basketball court, Cleveland 19 reported.

The 17-year-old was found dead in the parking lot on West Market Street when the police arrived, according to Akron police.

“I am happy to report that today, officers with the Akron Police Department, made several arrests in connection with the death of Ethan Liming. We thank the members of the community for their outpouring of support that helped investigators throughout this investigation,” said Akron Police Chief Stephen Mylett in a press release, according to the New York Post.

“While I believe the news of the arrests will be welcomed by Ethan’s family and loved ones, we all recognize that nothing will bring Ethan back,” he continued. “Violence in this country must stop. We are losing too many lives to senseless acts of violence.”