Nearly a year after a stray bullet cut down a 25-year-old bystander in Akron’s Highland Square, the man who fired that shot has pleaded guilty. Emahni Thomas, 24, admitted to involuntary manslaughter with a firearm specification in connection with the death of Timothy Hutchinson, resolving a case that began with a chaotic pre-dawn shootout on West Market Street.
According to FOX 8 Cleveland WJW, Thomas had been facing reckless homicide and other charges before the plea deal, and he is now scheduled to be sentenced on October 2, 2026. The station reports that police said Hutchinson was struck unintentionally during a shootout between two suspects, with Thomas allegedly shooting at someone else before hitting Hutchinson as he returned fire. The shooting was reported at about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 5, 2025, in the 800 block of West Market Street.
Police detectives determined that the other man involved, 24-year-old Deshawn Stafford, initiated the gunfight by firing at Thomas first, prompting Thomas to return fire, according to WKYC. Stafford was arrested in October 2025 on murder, felonious-assault, weapons-under-disability, drug-trafficking, drug-possession, and drug-paraphernalia charges after police seized bulk narcotics at his residence, and he continues to face murder charges in Summit County Common Pleas Court.
A Co-Defendant With a Troubled Past
Stafford’s criminal history predates the Highland Square shooting. He had previously served an 18-month prison sentence after being convicted of assault in the June 2022 beating death of 17-year-old Ethan Liming outside Akron’s I PROMISE School, as reported by the Washington Times…