On Tuesday, Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Alison McCarty sentenced three men for their roles in the death of a 21-year-old pregnant woman in April of 2022, according to Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh.
Teyaurra Harris, who was a mother of two children and expecting a baby at the time of her death, was caught in the crossfire of a gunfight on Rockaway Street in Akron’s Summit Lake neighborhood.
On April 14, 2022, at 7:30 p.m., Harris was a passenger in a car traveling in the 1400 block of Rockaway Street when a shootout between two groups of people took place. At least 30 rounds from three different guns were fired, with one of the rounds entered through the back car window and striking the mom, marshals said.
According to police, on the night of the incident, 20-year-old Darrion Rackley, 20-year-old Zyeir Saunders, 17-year-old Antonil Whitaker and 21-year-old Jeremiah Williams were parked on Rockaway Street, not far from where 19-year-old Jaunte Smith, 21-year-old Jaevaiaire Small and 18-year-old Ni'Kayla Johnson were hanging out.
The driver of the car Harris was in pulled in between the two groups and stuck his head out the window when Rackley, Saunders and Whitaker started shooting. Smith, Small and a third person returned fire, thinking the initial fire came from the car Harris was in. Harris was struck in the head during the exchange and later died, police said.
According to the prosecutor's office, only one defendant has yet to stand trial. Lenier Worthy has a pre-trial scheduled for Dec. 20. The other defendants received the sentences below.
On Nov. 29, Rackley pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter with a gun specification, a first-degree felony, and two counts of felonious assault with gun specifications, second-degree felonies. Tuesday, he was sentenced to 34 to 39.5 years in prison.
On July 10, after a hearing in Juvenile Court, Whitaker was bound over to Summit County Court of Common Pleas, where he pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter with a gun specification, a first-degree felony, and two counts of felonious assault with gun specifications, second-degree felonies. Tuesday, he was sentenced to 20 to 24 years in prison.
On Jan. 25, Williams pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter with a gun specification, a first-degree felony, and three counts of felonious assault with gun specifications, second-degree felonies. Tuesday, he was sentenced to 20 to 24 years in prison.
In June, Small pled guilty to aggravated assault with a gun specification, a fourth-degree felony, having a weapon under disability, a third-degree felony, and carrying a concealed weapon, a fourth-degree felony. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
In September, Smith pled guilty to aggravated assault with a gun specification, a fourth-degree felony. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
