CLEVELAND — The last defendant in the 2021 killing of Alishah Pointer has been convicted.
A Cuyahoga County jury on Wednesday found Hakeem-Ali Shomo, 34, guilty of aggravated murder, conspiracy and several related charges tied to Pointer’s abduction and death in East Cleveland.
His sentencing is set for Jan. 7 at 10 a.m.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O'Malley said the verdict marks the end of a lengthy process involving multiple defendants.
"Alishah Pointer's family has been waiting a long time for these five individuals to be held accountable," O'Malley said. "Today's verdict delivers the final conviction in this brutal case and brings us closer to the justice her family deserves."
Investigators say the case began Nov. 4, 2021, when Shomo, Portria Williams, Destiny Henderson and Nathaniel Poke forced two women into a vehicle near Glenmont Road and Superior Road in East Cleveland.
The group then drove the victims to Pointer’s location, lured her out of a home and took her to another site at gunpoint.
The two initial victims were released, but Pointer was taken to Williams’s residence and held overnight.
Prosecutors say that while Pointer was there, Shomo, Brittany Smith and Anthony Bryant assaulted her in an effort to obtain information about their friend’s death.
Pointer was later taken to an abandoned home near Savannah Avenue and Manhattan Avenue.
According to prosecutors, Williams and Bryant shot her, and Henderson attempted to fire a gun, but it malfunctioned. The group then left the location.
Pointer was found five days later by East Cleveland police and the FBI. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
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