AKRON, Ohio — A New Franklin man has agreed to plead guilty to a 2022 murder, Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich announced Wednesday.
Eric Mendoza, 41, admitted to a single charge of murder with a firearm specification. Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Joy Malek Oldfield will sentence him on Wednesday.
Authorities say Mendoza shot and killed 53-year-old Jeffrey Fisher, of Clinton, as Fisher rode away from Mendoza's Dailey Road home on his motorcycle early in the morning of Sept. 27, 2022. The two had gotten into "a brief verbal dispute" prior to the shooting, according to officials.
Mendoza's trial had been set to begin today before the announcement of a plea deal. He has been held in the Summit County Jail since his arrest, eventually receiving a $1 million bond.
While Mendoza has no prior felony record in Summit County, he was convicted in 2012 of a misdemeanor charge of violating a protection order and received a year of probation. For the murder of Fisher, he faces up to life in prison.
