AKRON, Ohio — A 24-year-old Akron man will serve more than a decade in prison for a robbery that was directly connected to a 2020 murder.
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands on Wednesday sentenced Dorell Davis to between 11 and 16 1/2 years behind bars, which prosecutors say was the maximum penalty allowed for the first-degree felony charge of aggravated robbery. Davis was convicted of that charge back on Dec. 4, although a jury also acquitted him of murdering 21-year-old Tyraye Carter.
Officials say Carter died on Dec. 3, 2020, after being shot multiple times while sitting in his car near Akron's Tampa Avenue and 28th Street Southwest. Police eventually arrested Davis, Kashmair Mingo, and Javion Rankin for the killing, with the trio also accused of stealing Carter's jewelry.
While Davis was found not guilty of directly causing Carter's death, Mingo was convicted of murder along with various other charges, although he was acquitted of the more serious offense of aggravated murder. He is currently serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 15 years.
Meanwhile, Rankin remains charged with aggravated murder, but a trial set for Jan. 16 was later vacated and a new date has not been set. The 22-year-old had been in custody at the Summit County Jail for more than a year, but this past June was instead released and placed under GPS monitoring.
Further complicating matters was Rankin's separate conviction for the robbery of a 60-year-old woman one day after Carter's murder. Despite even his defense attorneys suggesting at least two years in prison, Rowlands — who is also overseeing Rankin's murder case — sentenced him to three years of probation, a move that frustrated prosecutors and led to an appeal.
"Rankin is currently on 24-7 monitoring as a condition of his release on a signature bond due to the Prosecutor's Office appealing the court's ruling forbidding the use of Cybercheck evidence in the murder case," the prosecutor's office added Wednesday, indicating they are still fully aware of Rankin's whereabouts at this time.
As for Davis, Carter's mother MyKeesha released a statement following Wednesday's sentencing that read, "Tyraye had his life taken from him at such a young age for no reason, he had so much more life to live. I'm thankful to have had him and I'm so honored to have been his mother. The family misses you and love you so much. Rest in love my young king. With love, your mother, MyKeesha".
