AKRON, Ohio — An Akron man has been charged following a shooting that killed a 14-year-old girl and a 24-year-old man.
Erick Sarzosa, 20, is charged with two counts of murder, obstructing official business and tampering with evidence. According to police, Sarzosa has been booked into the Summit County Jail.
Around 10:50 p.m on Thursday, police responded reports of shots fired in 90 block of Brighton Drive.
Police found a 24-year-old male and a 14-year-old female with gunshot wounds. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
The teen was identified Ty'Leia Junius, who died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The man was identified as Derail Whisenant, who died from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the medical examiner.
An Akron officer hugs the girl's mother at her home.
The mother of the 14-year-old victim, who did not want her name used, said her daughter was a student in the Akron Public School District, but attended an alternative program known as LEAP in Green.
"She was a sweet girl, a typical 14-year-old, an average teen that does what average teens do. My baby wasn't a bad child, but she was also defensive. She was a fighter."
David W. James, Ed.D., the superintendent of Akron Public Schools, issued a statement regarding Ty'Leia's death.
The Akron Public Schools family mourns the loss of a young life, a student of ours who we were educating and nurturing. Lost to a violent outburst on a lovely spring evening. We offer our prayers to her family.
A 20-year-old male was found with a gunshot wound to the leg. He was taken with non-life threatening injuries to Cleveland Clinic Akron General Medical Center.
According to police, the victims were shot during a fight.
