Teen Beaten to Death Outside LeBron’s ‘I Promise School’ Suffered Skull Fracture

An Ohio teenager who was beaten to death in a brawl outside of the LeBron James-founded I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, suffered a skull fracture and had the imprint of a shoe on his chest, according to a report.

Ethan Liming, 17, was beaten to death in the parking lot of the school adjacent to the basketball court on June 2. Liming’s cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma.

LeBron James tweeted his condolences to Liming’s family at the time:

Our condolences goes out to the family who lost a loved one!! My the heavens above watch over you during this tragedy! Pray for our community! 💚👑 https://t.co/bpq5qsoNfO

— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 3, 2022

The brawl which ultimately claimed Liming’s life began after he and three other friends fired a water pistol at another group of four youths as they were playing basketball. A fight ensued, and Liming was killed.

The medical examiner’s report listed only one broken bone in Liming’s body. However, the feature was to the occipital bone, which protects the brain and specifically the brain’s visual processing center.

LeBron James at the opening of the I Promise School in 2018 (Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Deshawn Stafford Jr., 20, Tyler Stafford, 19, and Donovan Jones, 21, were arrested in connection with the murder. All three have pleaded not guilty and contend that they believed they were under attack by a “fully automatic firearm.”

In reality, the water pistol used was a SplatRBall Gun that fires a water bead that explodes on impact.