AKRON, Ohio — The three Akron men indicted last week on lesser charges in connection with the death of 17-year-old Ethan Liming were arraigned on those charges Thursday and given significantly reduced bonds.
On July 27, a Summit County grand jury indicted the three men on the following charges in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas:
- Deshawn Stafford, age 20: Two counts of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, and assault.
- Tyler Stafford, age 19: Involuntary manslaughter and assault.
- Donovon Jones, age 21: Two counts of assault.
The three men were originally arraigned on murder and felonious assault charges in June and were each held on a $1 million bond.
RELATED: 3 arrested in connection with beating death of Ethan Liming held on $1 million bond each
On Thursday, Deshawn Stafford’s bond was lowered to $25,000, with 10% due. Tyler Stafford’s bond was reduced to $5,000, with 10% due. GPS monitoring and no contact with the victim’s family will be ordered for both men if a bond is posted. Jones’s bond was also lowered to $5,000.
F-1 involuntary manslaughter, which Deshawn Stafford faces, carries a potential prison sentence of 3 to 11 years. F-3 involuntary manslaughter, which both Stafford bothers face, carries a potential prison sentence of 9 months to 3 years.
The assault charges against Jones are misdemeanors.
The arrests came after Ethan, a rising senior and football and baseball player at the Firestone school in Akron was found beaten to death near the basketball courts of the I PROMISE School on Thursday, June 2.
According to investigators, Ethan was with a group of friends and at least one of them fired a toy gun— a SplatRBall Water Bead Blaster— around 10:45 p.m. at the men who were playing basketball on the courts.
Detectives said that led to a fight, and Ethan was repeatedly punched and kicked. He died at the scene.
RELATED: 3 men arrested for Akron teen Ethan Liming's death indicted on lesser charges
Watch our report from last week when we learned about the lesser charges:
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