AKRON, Ohio — The Akron Police Department announced that nine people have been charged after a multi-year investigation found the group was allegedly involved in criminal gang activity.
According to Akron Police, the individuals charged are members of the Down the Way gang. Authorities say the following people have been charged with participating in a criminal gang and conspiracy to participate in a criminal gang for activity between 2019 and 2024:
- Isaiah Lillie
- Eric Cosey
- Jimmie McCully
- Ronald Jones
- Jordan Davis
- Rausheen Rivers
- Tyrus Toney
- Javeon Wright
- Michael Morale, Jr.
Five members of the group were arrested by the Akron Police Department's Anti-Violence Bureau and the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force. The other four were already in custody or in jail on unrelated charges.
Six of the suspects were arraigned on February 26 in Summit County Common Pleas Court. The pleaded not guilty. Their next court hearing was scheduled for March 26.
The charges stem from a long-term investigation where detectives used the Akron Crime Gun Intelligence Center to identify members of the group and tie them to an "ongoing pattern of criminal activity," police said. Evidence was then presented to a grand jury, which indicted the alleged gang members.
The investigation involved the Akron Police Department and the Summit County Prosecutor's Office.
News 5's Bob Jones has been covering crime in Akron for years and spoke with investigators to get an in-depth look at the case.
Akron Police body camera video from 2020 showed officers responding after gunfire erupted between two groups of people outside a drive-thru on Lover's Lane. The shooting left two teens injured.
Dom Epps works at a muffler shop near where the shooting occurred.
"I remember the aftermath. There were cops everywhere the next day, and we heard about it. It was dangerous at the time," Epps said.
On Easter Day 2021, another gun battle played out on Florida Avenue. Again, two teens were shot. They survived, but the neighborhood was left traumatized.
"Houses have been struck. Cars have been struck. People have been struck," Akron Police Deputy Chief David Laughlin said. "People are just trying to live peacefully, live their day-to-day lives, raise their families, (they've) been victimized by this group."
Over the last four years, Akron Police and prosecutors have been investigating multiple violent crimes, and suspected that the DTW gang was responsible for much of the violence.
"What you see behind every one of these crimes are victims and scared community," said Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich. "We prosecute a lot of isolated incidents, as you well know, but this represents much more of that concerted gang activity effort that really terrorized the people of Akron."
Epps said the arrests, years later, provide some relief.
"I'm glad they cleaned up the neighborhood, whatever, if they got these guys off the street, cool. More room for regular people," Epps said.
According to authorities, Down the Way gang members were involved in at least 36 gun-related crimes, and 42 guns were seized as part of the investigation. Seven of those guns were connected to area shootings that were previously unsolved, including the Lovers Lane shooting six years ago and the Florida Avenue shooting five years ago.
The lenghty investigation also led to a murder charge against one of the suspects — Ronald Jones.
In April 2025, 35-year-old Aharon Pittman Sr. was shot to death inside a bar on Brittain Road.
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"It was a tragedy to his family, to my son, to our families," said ShaLamarr Gatlin, the mother of Pittman's son.
She has been waiting for someone to be charged for Pittman's death for nearly a year.
"It needs to make some type of difference. It needs to make some type of impact, some type of statement that it was not okay, and it's not okay, and it's not going to be okay," she said.
Laughlin believes the arrests will make Akron safer and that suspected Down the Way gang members could be locked away for years, if convicted.
"They have repeatedly demonstrated that they are not going to abide by the law and had to be held accountable at a higher level. That's where these gang cases stem from," Laughlin said.
