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'When Social Justice Replaces Actual Justice': Critics Blast Ethan Liming Death Verdict

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  September 27, 2023 3:30 PM

The family of Ethan Liming, the 17-year-old who was brutally beaten and killed near LeBron James’ I Promise school in Akron, Ohio, said they are “completely devastated” after two of the men involved in their son’s death were found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter on Monday.  

Jurors on Monday handed up their verdicts in the involuntary manslaughter trial of two brothers for a fight that ended in the death of 17-year-old Ethan Liming.

Deshawn and Tyler Stafford were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter charges. Deshawn was found guilty of felony aggravated assault as well as a misdemeanor count of assault. Tyler was also found guilty on a misdemeanor count of assault.

A third, first-degree felony count of involuntary manslaughter against Deshawn was dismissed as jurors failed to reach a verdict. Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tammy O’Brien declared it a mistrial. (Fox 8)

On June 2, 2022, Liming and some friends were “joy riding in a car” when they shot at three males on a basketball court with a toy Splatrball Water Bead Blaster, prompting the confrontation that led to his death.

The teen, who died of blunt force trauma to the head, was beaten so severely there were footprints on his chest wall, according to a preliminary autopsy.

"The Liming Family is completely devastated by the outcome of this trial and cannot understand how three young men can get away with viciously beating their son, Ethan, to death," the family's attorney James A. Gutierrez said in a statement.

"Ethan didn’t get a fair shot that night when three men brutally attacked him and now again Ethan did not get a fair shot in court," the statement continued.

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"They feel like Ethan has been killed again and now the Liming Family is victimized by the system and the media for publishing articles that were not only hurtful to the Liming Family, but were also simply not true.

"This case had nothing to do with race when it happened," he added. "The community picked sides and in a symptom of our society, lost sight of what is simply a matter of right or wrong. Clearly the jury lost its way and the Liming Family cannot understand that if they convicted the defendants of assault and aggravated assault then what killed Ethan, the concrete? That is like saying I just happened to be holding the gun that killed someone. The Liming Family yet again was victimized by jury nullification where the jury ignored proven facts to come back with an inconsistent verdict. As their attorney, to witness the injustice, to witness the grief, the harassment, the cruel and unimaginable things said on social media reflects how broken we are as a community, as a city, and as a nation. Nothing will bring back Ethan. His death goes without justice. The people who killed Ethan go without consequence and our community remains crippled in its failure to recognize the simple concepts of fairness and compassion."