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Akron man gets life in prison for murder

He will be eligible for parole after 27 years.
Credit: Summit County Prosecutor's Office

A 27-year-old Akron native has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering of a man roughly a year ago.

Demarcus Shealy, of Windsor St., will be eligible for parole after 27 years. He and another man were accused of killing Jason Bradford in April of 2018.

According to officials, Shealy and Bradford got into an argument at the apartment where Shealy was staying, and called his cousin to come over to the complex. The cousin was joined by another man, 24-year-old Lavon Rankin.

After the group called for Bradford to come outside, Shealy hit an unsuspecting Bradford over the head with a brick, and the attack continued until Rankin fatally shot Bradford. Rankin previously pleaded guilty last December to voluntary manslaughter and having a weapon under disability, and received a 20-year sentence.

Shealy had also originally pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and lesser charges, but this past January he decided to withdraw that plea, and instead requested a jury trial. As a result, Shealy was found guilty of murder, felonious assault, and obstructing justice last Friday, and a judge handed down his sentence today.

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