money Ethan Liming case: 5 things we know about the teen's death and the aftermath
It's been more than two months since 17-year-old Ethan Liming died in the parking lot of the I Promise School in Akron's West Hill.
Liming would have been a senior at Firestone high school this fall.
The case has not only been the talk of Akron, but parts of the nation where it’s being debated across America's political chasm. The site of Liming's death, an innovative Akron Public School supported by the LeBron James Family Foundation, has fueled even more interest.
Stand your ground law:Were the Black men charged in Ethan Liming's death standing their ground?
Ethan Liming:The changing narrative about his death outside I Promise and the aftermath
Here are five things we've learned about what happened that night, along with the aftermath that continues to unfold beyond the courtroom.
1. Once charged with murder, suspects are out of jail
The three young men charged in connection with Liming's death are now all free on bond. They were each initially charged with murder in the case and held on $1 million bonds. But a Summit County grand jury decided against indicting them for murder after reviewing new evidence in the case. It instead opted to indict on lesser charges ranging from involuntary manslaughter to misdemeanor assault.
2. Case could test Ohio's Stand Your Ground law
Attorneys for Deshawn Stafford Jr., 20, Tyler Stafford, 19, and Donovon Jones, 21, say their clients were the victims in the case and were defending themselves against Liming and his friends when Liming died. Because all three are Black and Liming is white, it could turn the politics of Ohio's new Stand Your Ground Law on its head.
3. Shoe print found on Liming's body
Ethan Liming died after he and three friends showed up at the school with gel pellet guns and opened fire on the Staffords, Jones and a young woman who hasn't been publicly identified. The group was playing basketball on a fenced-in court when they were targeted. When police arrived, blood was coming from Liming's nose, mouth and ears. One of his eyes was blackened and someone stomped on him hard enough to leave a shoe print on the right side of his chest wall, according to preliminary Summit County Medical Examiner reports reviewed by the Akron Beacon Journal.
4. Narrative has changed drastically since June 2
Bill Liming, Ethan Liming's dad, has said his son attempted to play peace maker the night he died by calming tension between his own friends and the basketball group after the gel pellet shootings. But Jon Sinn, a defense attorney for Deshawn Stafford, now says that Liming escalated the tension. Liming didn't participate in the initial shooting, Sinn said. But when Liming's friends ran, Liming picked up a pellet gun and shot at the group again, striking Deshawn Stafford in the face, Sinn said.
5. Race not a factor in death, but plays a role in debate
Both police and the Liming family have repeatedly said race was not a factor in Liming's death, but a national white supremacist group has protested twice outside the Akron Police Department demanding that the Black men charged in connection with Liming's death face hate crimes charges.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What happened the night Ethan Liming died in Akron near I Promise?
