A CHILLING 911 call reveals the final moments of a teenager who was beaten to death on a basketball court near a high school in Ohio after a prank gone wrong.
Ethan Liming, 17, and three friends were playing with a plastic gun that shoots water pellets before he was found beaten to death in the parking lot of the I Promise School in Akron on June 2.
High School Junior Ethan Liming was a talent sportsman[/caption]
The young man wanted to purse a career in law after leaving high school[/caption]
The young lad, an honours student at Firestone Community Learning Center who played baseball and football, died after suffering blunt force trauma to his head, police said.
Many questions remain surrounding the timeline on the tragic incident.
The young man, who aspired to be a lawyer, was riding in a car with friends in “the surrounding area shooting a SPLATRBALL Water Bead Blaster at objects and possibly unsuspecting people”, Akron Police explained.
The vehicle pulled into the Promise School, an establishment supported in part by The Lebron James Family Foundation, before the group headed to the basketball court.
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“The teens then appeared to have targeted or approached the subjects who were on the court and fired the gel soft gun at them,” police highlighted. “The collective actions of the teens in the car appear to have unfortunately provoked the altercation.”
A fight ensued between Ethan and his three friends, and three young men who have since been charged with murder in connection with Ethan’s death – 19-year-old Tyler Stafford, Donovon Jones, 21, and Deshawn Stafford, 20.
Three men – two brothers and their cousin – were charged in relation to Ethan’s death[/caption]
According to the affidavits related to the suspects’ arrests, the young men had “punched” and “assaulted” each of the victims and “beat Liming until he was unconscious” before “beating him more”.
But a newly-release 911 call made from the basketball court has raised more questions about the fatal incident, police said during a June 8 press conference.
“We’re at the I Promise school in Akron, Ohio,” one of Liming’s friends told a 911 operator during a 10:42 p.m. call on the night of the altercation, according to Fox News.
“Our friend just got knocked out. We don’t know what to do.”
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As the operator is asking whether the fight was still ongoing, a voice in the background is heard saying: “Hey, man. We’re sorry, man. We didn’t mean it.”
The young lad on the phone to the dispatcher confirmed “there was” a fight and said “It’s OK, though. It’s cool now. It’s cool now.”
When asked if Ethan was OK, the teenager replied: “Yeah, he’s breathing. He’s breathing.”
At the same time, new skirmishes appear in the background, before a voice can be heard saying: “I’m not trying to fight, though”.
More scuffles and indiscernible voices and noises continue before the call suddenly ends.
Police officers arrived at the scene within three minutes of the 911 call and found Ethan lying on the ground of the parking lot.
Despite efforts to resuscitate the young lad, Ethan was pronounced dead at the scene, Akron Police Chief Steve Mylett said.
Further questions remain after police documents obtained by Fox News Digital described how two suspects, Deshawn and Tyler Stafford, “took Liming’s car and drove it” around when the high school junior’s friends were trying to take him to the hospital.
The affidavit related to the arrest of Tyler Stafford reads: “When […] attempted to come to Liming’s aid by taking him to the hospital, Stafford took Liming’s car and drove it to the other end of the lot”.
This version is vehemently denied by Jonathan Sinn, who represents DeShawn Stafford, who explained his client, his brother and his cousin saw “a car-load of teenagers (…) with, what at the time seemed to be a fully automatic firearm” and defended themselves, in a climate a widespread mass shooting across the US.
Sinn said that the suspects did take away the water gun and Ethan’s car after the alleged altercation, they were not moving the car to prevent the victim from getting to the hospital.
Instead, the attorney explained, the trio did so to keep Ethan and his friends on the scene until police arrived.
The suspects fled before police arrived to find “nobody on the scene”, Mylett told reporters.
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Ethan’s dad, Bill Liming, said in a statement on Tuesday June 14 that his family “is confident that when the facts of the case are presented in court, Ethan will get justice.”
Talking to Cleveland WEWS-TV channel, Ethan’s mum Jennifer Liming said: “Ethan was everything. He was a good boy. He was a smart boy. He loved life. He loved living life. He wanted to be friends with everybody.”
The three suspects are being held on $1 million bond. Each pleaded not guilty during Monday’s arraignment.
Ethan’s funeral service was help on Friday 17, June.
A photo of the SPLATRBALL Water Bead gun found at the scene[/caption]
Ethan’s devastated family and friends have paid tributes to the talented teenager[/caption]
