- Deshawn Stafford and Emahni Thomas will be sentenced today for their roles in the 2025 crossfire shooting that killed Timothy Hutchinson in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood.
Deshawn Stafford and Emahni Thomas will learn their fate today for their role in the deadly 2025 crossfire shooting that killed Timothy Hutchinson in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood.
The sentencing comes after Stafford previously agreed to plead guilty to the following charges:
- Involuntary manslaughter with a three-year firearm specification – a 1st degree felony
- One count of trafficking in cocaine with a major drug offender specification – a 1st degree felony
- One count of discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises with a three-year firearm specification – a 3rd degree felony
- One count of having weapons while under disability – a 3rd degree felony
Thomas also agreed to plead guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter with a three-year firearm specification.
CASE BACKGROUND
On Oct. 5, 2025, Akron police responded to West Market Street just before 12:30 a.m. for a reported shooting and found Hutchinson, 25, with a gunshot wound. He was later pronounced dead at Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital.
Investigators determined that Hutchinson was caught in the crossfire of two shooters. Hutchinson was a University of Akron graduate whom friends say was meeting up with people in the Highland Square bar district when he was killed…