Ethan Liming murder update: 911 audio raises new doubts about beating death of teenager

A 17-year-old teen, Ethan Liming was beaten to death by three men outside an Akron school on June 2. Now, a 911 call made at the time has raised more questions than answers.

Liming was found unresponsive in the parking lot of the I Promise School in Akron. The assault took place because Liming and his friends used a toy water bead gun to shoot at a group of men on a school basketball court.

A 911 call at 10:42 p.m. made by one of Ethan Liming's friends went something like this:

"We’re at the I Promise school in Akron, Ohio. Our friend just got knocked out. We don’t know what to do."

The operator then asked if the fight was still on.

Just then, a voice in the background was heard saying:

"Hey, man. We’re sorry, man. We didn’t mean it."

To a question about whether Liming was breathing or not, the caller confirmed that the 17-year-old was breathing.

Around three minutes later, the cops arrived at the scene only to find Ethan Liming unresponsive, the report said.

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What happened on the night of Ethan Liming's death?

The SplatRBall gun that was used to shoot at the men on the basketball court (Image via OccamsBraiser/Twitter)

Following Ethan Liming's death, Donovon Jones, 21, DeShawn Stafford Jr., 20, and Tyler Stafford, 19, were arrested, but the trio pleaded not guilty.

Jonathan Sinn, a lawyer for DeShawn Stafford, maintained that his client was defending himself against "a car-load of teenagers … with, what at the time seemed to be a fully automatic firearm," referring to the water gun, as per the report.

Following the fatal altercation, the three men fled the scene in Ethan Liming’s car and drove it to the other end of the parking lot, court documents reportedly said.

However, Sinn stated that his client took away the water bead gun and the car not because they wanted to prevent Liming from getting to the hospital, but so that they could keep Liming and his friends on the scene until the police arrived.

Meanwhile, Akron Police Chief Mylett told reporters there was nobody on the scene when the cops arrived.

Liming and his three friends were playing with a SplatRBall gun. Reportedly, the gun shoots water beads that explode upon hitting a target. The guns are not something one is supposed take to school or to a federal property.

The official SplatRBall website also stated that it was not supposed to be blasted at animals or people.

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"He was fighting back for his life," says victim's father

According to Bill Liming, Ethan's father, his son and his friends had encountered four other people, referring to the arrested men. He also described the incident as something of a "horseplay."

Liming said:

"He was fighting back for his life. A third individual came up behind him and overwhelmed him. And they knocked him out on the ground. His friends tried to help him."

Speaking to the 911 operator, the caller, a friend of Ethan's, also hinted that there had been a fight before. "It’s OK, though. It’s cool now. It’s cool now," the caller said.

A while later, there was a commotion and an additional voice that said, "I’m not trying to fight, though," before the call got disconnected. It was unclear if the fight was over or escalating.