Akron man is convicted of murder in double shooting in Cuyahoga Falls

Summit County jurors believed that Deair Wray shot through the window of his former girlfriend's apartment in a jealous rage when he saw her inside with another man.

Jurors didn’t believe the defense’s claim that Wray wasn’t the shooter and that it could have been one of his co-defendants — or someone else.

After deliberating for about five hours, jurors found Wray guilty of murder and other charges in the double shooting in May 2022 that injured his girlfriend and killed the man with her that night.

Wray will be sentenced Oct. 19 by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Kathryn Michael. He faces life in prison, with the only question being how soon he’ll be eligible for parole.

Wray, 29, of Akron, who also goes by Deair Johnson, plans to appeal.

More: Akron man goes on trial for double shooting in Cuyahoga Falls

Case is the reason behind 'Justice for G' signs seen around Akron

Family members of Giovanni Stanford, whom Wray was convicted of fatally shooting, were pleased with the verdict. They had placed signs around Akron saying, “Justice For G,” which is short for Giovanni.

Medira Sampson, Stanford’s grandmother, said the family wanted to call attention to his slaying as well as other unsolved shootings in the Akron area.

“We are trying get people more aware of what’s going on,” she said. “So many young men in North Hill have been shot and killed.”

Wray and two other men are charged in double shooting

Wray and two other men are charged in a shooting that happened shortly before midnight May 26, 2022, at an apartment at 1376 Forest Glen Drive in Cuyahoga Falls.

Police said Wray fired 9 mm rounds into a window of the apartment, striking Stanford, 23, of Akron, in the torso and head.

Dezah Robertson, Wray’s on-again/off-again girlfriend and the mother of his 2-year-old son, was shot in the leg.

Robertson survived, while Stanford, 23, of Akron, did not.

Durell McDowell, 33, of Canton, and Jameir McDowell, 33, of Akron, are scheduled to enter a plea and be sentenced Thursday.

Durell is Deair’s cousin, while Jameir is Deair’s uncle. Both testified in Deair’s trial.

Durell is charged with obstructing justice, while Jameir faces the same charges as Wray, plus obstructing justice.

Co-defendants point to Wray as the shooter

Wray’s trial started Monday and wrapped up Thursday afternoon.

Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Seema Misra said in her closing argument that police recovered eight shell casings outside the living room window of Robertson’s apartment. She said a car was parked in front of the apartment, which meant that the person who fired the shots did so from right outside the window.

Misra said Wray and Robertson had a volatile relationship and often sent each other text messages, with his messages turning nasty when he talked about whether she was dating someone else.

“You ain’t going to be around to see the kids,” Wray told Robertson in a text four days before the shooting.

Misra said Durell and Jameir gave similar accounts of what happened on the night of the shooting. She said both men thought they were going to Robertson’s home with Wray to buy drugs, but Wray ended up shooting into the apartment.

When Wray got back to the car, Durell said Wray told him Dezah was with Stanford and he shot Stanford through the window. Jameir said he saw Deair running with a gun after the shooting.

Misra said Durell was wearing a GPS monitoring device that showed him outside and down the street from Robertson’s apartment at the time of the shooting. She said Durell and Jameir had never met Stanford and barely knew Robertson.

“The defense wants you believe Deair was not there,” Misra said. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

Misra said the shooting was fueled by Wray’s jealousy and anger.

Attorney questions reliability of Wray’s co-defendants

John Greven, who represented Wray along with Attorney Nathan Ray, though, though, said not everything about the shooting makes sense.

For Wray to have done the shooting, Greven said he would have had to shoot into a window not knowing if his son might be on the other side. He said Wray also had no way of knowing that Stanford was there because Robertson hadn’t told him.

“There are things here that just don’t make sense and don’t add up,” Greven said.

Greven said Durell and Jameir were covering for themselves and for each other, knew detectives already were looking at Wray and would say anything to avoid a murder conviction.

After the shooting, Greven said Durell and Jameir stopped at the house of another relative who lived nearby. He wondered if this could have been the third person with Durell and Jameir and could be the shooter. He said police didn’t question this man.

Greven said no direct evidence ties Wray to the shooting besides the testimony of Durell and Jameir, who haven’t been consistent in their accounts.

“These guys have done nothing but lie,” Greven said. “They got caught in lies and had no way out of it and threw (Wray) under the bus to save their own asses.”

Greven conceded that jurors should find Wray guilty of having weapons while under disability because he had a gun on him when he was arrested that he wasn’t permitted to have. He said this gun wasn’t the one used in the double shooting.

Jurors find Wray guilty of all charges

Jurors began deliberating about 11 a.m. Friday and announced they had a verdict at 3 p.m.

They found Wray guilty of three counts of murder that involve different explanations of the crime – purposely causing a death, causing a death as the result of a felonious assault, and causing a death as the result of shooting into a home.

Jurors also found Wray guilty of one count each of improperly discharging a firearm into a habitation and having weapons under disability and two counts of felonious assault, one each for shooting Stanford and Robertson. Most of the charges included gun specifications that carry with them additional prison time.

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Deair Wray is convicted of murder in double shooting in Cuyahoga Falls