AKRON, Ohio — New details have been released in the case of 17-year-old Ethan Liming who died after an alleged altercation outside of the I PROMISE School in Akron back in June.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office has listed Ethan's cause of death as follows:
- Cause of death: Blunt force head injuries
- Manner of death ruled homicide: Struck head on asphalt during altercation
The report, which 3News obtained Wednesday morning, says it was shortly before 11 p.m. on June 2 when emergency crews were notified of a fight in a parking lot with one person unconscious and injured.
Upon their arrival, Ethan was found to be unresponsive and wasn’t breathing. He was pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report also lists multiple blunt force injuries to various parts of Ethan’s body.
Three men arrested in connection with the case were initially held on $1 million bond, but that amount was greatly reduced in early August amid lesser charges after a Summit County grand jury issued new indictments.
Here’s how the updated bonds were issued against all three suspects back on Aug. 4:
- 19-year-old Tyler Stafford: Bond reduced to $5,000 with one count of assault, one count of involuntary manslaughter.
- 20-year-old Deshawn Stafford Jr.: Bond reduced to $25,000 with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, one count of assault, one count of aggravated assault.
- 21-year-old Donovon Jones: Bond reduced to $5,000 signature with two counts of assault.
According to the Summit County Prosecutor's Office, a pre-trial for Deshawn Stafford Jr. and Tyler Stafford is scheduled for November 3.
On Wednesday, Donovon Jones pled no contest to the two counts of misdemeanor assault. The prosecutor's office tells 3News that Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Tammy O'Brien found Jones guilty and gave him a suspended sentence of 180 days.
Jones was not charged in connection with the death of Liming, with the assault counts pertaining to Liming's friends, according to the prosecutor's office.
All three had initially been charged with murder, which is why bond was previously set at $1 million for each defendant.
According to a preliminary investigation, as 3News previously reported, authorities say Ethan was with a group of friends who pulled into the school parking lot that night. That's when they reportedly got involved in a fight with at least three other males who were already playing basketball at the property.
Speaking in support of his client, Deshawn Stafford Jr.'s attorney, Jon Sinn, previously said all three defendants were chased from the basketball court after being hit with "hundreds and hundreds" of frozen liquid rounds from SplatRBall guns. He further alleges all three were "assaulted" before Deshawn "defended himself."
On Wednesday, Sinn said the findings in the medical examiner's report support what he and his client have been saying the whole time, that his client acted in self defense, and that this was not a brutal beating.
"They detail some injuries, and he's got some scrapes, and he's got some cuts," Sinn said. "Nothing consistent with somebody who's being stopped and beaten violently and brutally while he's on the ground."
Sinn said he and his client intend to file a notice of self defense to alert the state that they intend to claim self defense.
"It was a fight amongst boys, Ethan got hit, he did some hitting and he got hit, and he hit the ground and the ground did all the damage here," Sinn said.
3News also reached out to the Liming family, as well as their attorney, Mike Callahan, following the autopsy report release. Callahan said he sent the report to Liming's father, but had yet to speak to him about its contents.
Callahan told 3News' Isabel Lawrence that he doesn't expect the report to change Ethan's father's attitude about the incident. When asked what that attitude was, Callahan responded by saying that Liming is "very disheartened with the system. I can't imagine a parent in his position being anything but."
Also, Callahan said he expected the report to rule a homicide in the case. He told Lawrence that it's now up to the courts to determine who is responsible.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- RELATED: $1 million bond greatly reduced amid lesser charges against 3 men arrested in connection with beating death of Akron teen Ethan Liming
- RELATED: 3 men arrested for death of Ethan Liming indicted by Summit County Grand Jury for lesser charges
- RELATED: Akron Police provide new details related to the death of a 17-year-old beaten to death outside of I Promise School