AKRON, Ohio — Adarus Black was sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for parole after 18 years for the shooting death of 18-year-old Na'Kia Crawford in Akron back in 2020. Black received 15 years to life on the charge itself and an additional three years on the gun specification to be served first.
On June 14, 2020, Crawford, 18, was driving her maternal grandmother home after running errands when shots were fired into her car from another car at a stoplight located at North and Howard streets in Akron.
She was hit by bullets and died at an Akron hospital. Her grandmother wasn't injured.
Akron police said Crawford, a graduate of North High School who was planning to attend Central State University, was in the wrong place at the wrong time and called the murder a case of "mistaken identity."
Black was identified as the murder suspect by Akron police, but investigators believe Black hid in various parts of the country for 20 months.
He was arrested in February in Georgia by members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force along with the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Sandy Springs Police Department’s SWAT Team.
Police said Black had a loaded AK-47 on him and was living in Atlanta under a fake name with a bogus California driver's license.
Black's trial started on Nov. 1, 871 days since Crawford was killed.
RELATED: Adarus Black found guilty of murdering Na'Kia Crawford
He was later found guilty of Crawford's murder. You can watch more about the verdict in the player below:
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