AKRON, Ohio — After deliberating for nearly three days, a jury has found Deshawn and Tyler Stafford not guilty of one count of involuntary manslaughter for the death of 17-year-old Akron high school student Ethan Liming in the summer of 2022. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the other involuntary manslaughter charge against Deshawn Stafford, and a mistrial was declared for that charge. Both brothers were found guilty of counts of assault and Deshawn Stafford was found guilty of aggravated assault.
Liming died from a head injury during a fight with the brothers after he and his friends shot gel pellets at them from a toy gun while they played basketball outside the I Promise school in Akron.
Deshawn Stafford was found guilty of aggravated assault and assault. Tyler Stafford was found guilty of assault. Both were found not guilty of a third-degree charge of involuntary manslaughter as a proximate result of committing or attempting to commit assault.
The jury was unable to reach a decision on Deshawn Stafford's first-degree charge of involuntary manslaughter based on aggravated assault, and a mistrial was declared for that charge only.
"They clearly are sending a message, and the message is it's unfortunate that Ethan lost his life. That's not caused by Deshawn or his actions," said Jon Sinn, Deshawn Stafford's attorney.
It has not yet been decided whether prosecutors will re-try Deshawn Stafford on that charge alone.
"Justice is not always where people are satisfied, so we have to look, and we have to do what's right, and so we'll take all of that into consideration before making that decision," said Brad Gessner, Chief Counsel at the Summit County Prosecutor's Office.
Sentencing for the assault and aggravated assault charges is scheduled for October 26. Deshawn Stafford could get up to 2.5 years behind bars. Stafford could get up to six months in jail, or both brothers could get just probation.
Liming's family left the courtroom visibly shaken, and felt they did not get justice.
"Emotions run high. The only thing is a son was brutally victimized on that day and today, and then victimized after the fact," said Jim Gutierrez, the Liming family's attorney.
The crucial focal point for the 12 jurors was likely whether they believed the defendants acted in self-defense under Ohio's Stand Your Ground law, as the defense's closing statements hinged on this argument. Under the law, the prosecution had to prove they weren’t trying to defend themselves.
The jury had been deliberating since Thursday morning, and on Monday morning, the judge gave the jurors an "Allen Charge" — essentially instructing them to be open to accepting other opinions and work to reach a consensus.
Prosecutors admitted during closing arguments on Wednesday that Liming and his friends made bad decisions when they got out of a car and used toy SpaltRball guns to shoot gel pellets at basketball players on June 2, 2022.
"Most pranks are not bright ideas. It was a joke," said Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Matt Kuhn.
The Stafford brothers, who were on the basketball court, initially ran, but prosecutors said a short time later, Deshawn approached Liming outside of his car. Liming fired more pellets, which hit Deshawn, leading to a fight, according to court testimony.
Kuhn said Deshawn threw the first punch, but it became a three-on-one fight with Tyler and their cousin, Donovan Jones, joining the fight. Jones was convicted of two misdemeanor counts of assault in connection to the incident.
Liming fell backward and hit his head on the pavement, which caused his death, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner.
Kuhn believes the Staffords realized it was a prank but retaliated with unreasonable force.
"Their behavior caused the death of Ethan Liming. They were committing assault on Ethan. They were violently attacking him," Kuhn told the jury.
But defense attorneys argued the brothers were not looking for trouble that night, but rather, trouble found them.
Attorney Jon Sinn, who represents Deshawn, held up one of the toy guns and demonstrated the noise it makes while making his closing argument on Wednesday.
"It didn't have to be deadly. It could have been (demonstrated toy gun) right out the window and go forward," Sinn said.
The defense argued the brothers acted in self-defense, and the burden to prove they didn't fall on the prosecution.
"They've got to prove Deshawn didn't act in self-defense in the shadows. That's on them," Sinn said.
University of Akron Law Professor Michael Gentithes said earlier this week the case could test Ohio's Stand Your Ground law passed in 2021.
He said self-defense could be argued if a defendant didn't provoke the incident, along with another important factor.
"Second, that the defendant had some bona fide belief of the imminent danger of something pretty serious — of death or great bodily harm," Gintithes said.
The law professor pointed out that Ohio's Stand Your Ground law is broader than similar laws in other states as it relates to a "duty to retreat."
"As long as the defendant is in a place they're lawfully allowed to be, the duty to retreat no longer applies," Gintithes added.
Gintithes didn’t know all of the facts surrounding the death of Liming, but he said during deliberations Thursday it was possible the jurors in the high-profile case were wrestling with the self-defense versus unreasonable force debate.
He said the verdict would be one to watch and could be discussed among his law students.
