Ethan Liming, a 17-year-old male, was beaten to death last Thursday night near the basketball courts of the I Promise School founded by LeBron James in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
According to the Akron Beacon Journal, Liming was found near 11 p.m. in a parking lot located next to the courts at 400 W. Market Street.
Local authorities believe Fleming was with friends at the lot and got into a fight with three other men who were present playing basketball. Liming was knocked unconscious and then “brutally assaulted,” his friends called the police.
“We’re at the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio,” one of the friends said in a police recording. “Our friend just got knocked out. We don’t know what to do.”
The school is closed for the summer with the last day of classes occurring on May 25.
“Our Akron Public Schools family expresses its deepest condolences and offers its prayers to the family and friends of a student who lost his life last night,” Superintendent Christine Fowler Mack said in a letter.
She added, “The death of a student affects all of Akron Public Schools. Ethan’s passing is, sadly, one of many we have experienced during this school year. May we all pause a moment from our daily pressures to give thanks for the lives of these children. May we forever find ways to keep our memories of them alive. Each of these losses reminds us about how precious, and sometimes fleeting, life can be.”
LeBron James would also issue a brief statement on Twitter.
