AKRON, Ohio — A heartbroken Akron family feels one step closer to getting justice four years after a brutal double murder.
"I"m just glad we're getting somewhere," said Judy Dennis, who lost a daughter and a grandchild in 2016.
Prosecutors and other court officials confirmed to News 5 that a man convicted in the 2015 murder of an Akron pizza shop worker has also been linked to three other murders that happened in 2016.
On Wednesday, Shaquille Anderson, 25, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of the shooting death of 21-year-old Zak Hussein. The university of Akron student was killed while working at Premium New York Style Pizza on Glenwood Avenue. The high-profile crime was caught on surveillance camera and went unsolved until Anderson was indicted in 2018.
Dennis' world was turned upside down in May of 2016 when her daughter, Sonia Freeman, 48, and her grandson Christopher Lane-Freeman, 28, were shot to death during a robbery inside their home on Hartford Avenue. Sonia Freeman's daughter, who was 9-years-old at the time, was a witness to crime, but wasn't hurt.
"It hurts so bad when I look at their pictures and think of the fun we had together and wonder why, why would you kill my children?" Dennis said. "I had to realize they're not coming back. They're gone."
Court officials said Anderson has admitted involvement in connection with the killings of the mother and son and is expected to be indicted for the aggravated murders. In addition, prosecutors expect Anderson to be indicted for the murder of Christian Dorsey, 24, who was shot during a robbery at Orrin Street and Crestview Avenue in June of 2016.
In December of 2016, Anderson was sent to prison for more than 20 years for a series of robberies. Police questioned him behind bars and began linking him to the murders, court officials said.
In exchange for additional no contest pleas, Anderson is expected to be sentenced on March 17 to life in prison without parole and prosecutors would drop the death penalty.
Roslyn Clark, a cousin to the double-murder victims, said Sonia Freeman was a beautiful woman who went to church and enjoyed staging plays. She added Christopher Lane-Freeman was a cool, laid-back man who worked hard and helped take care of his sister.
Clark said removing the death penalty is hard to accept.
"We are taught not to hate and wish death on a person, but I'm close to that," Clark said.
However, Dennis said she doesn't want a death sentence.
"If he had that type of attitude to just kill people, then he should just be off the street and not be allowed back on the street. That's how I feel," Dennis said. "I don't know what kind of upraising he had, but evidently, he didn't have the kind that had respect for other people."
Another man, Jaysaun Holley, is charged for the deaths of Sonia Freeman and Christopher Lane-Freeman. His charges include aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary and kidnapping. His trial is scheduled for June.
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