AKRON, Ohio — A man who prosecutors said confessed to a mistaken identity murder outside an Akron Dollar Tree store in 2023 has been convicted.
During a Monday morning hearing that took place over video, Jontae Watkins, 26, entered a no-contest plea to aggravated murder with a three-year firearm specification for the death of 34-year-old Ernestine Stallings.
Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands found Watkins guilty. He could get life in prison without the chance of parole. Prosecutors said they would recommend 23 years to life in prison.
Watkins also pleaded guilty to separate drug charges stemming from the investigation.
In July of 2023, Stallings and her fiancée, Tasha Love, visited the Dollar Tree on West Market Street.
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They left the store carrying balloons for a birthday party for Love's son when shots from an AR-15 rifle suddenly rang out.
Stallings was shot six times in the back and died. The bullets narrowly missed Love.
"I could feel the heat from the bullets coming past my leg. I didn't even know if I was shot when it happened. Nobody should experience that," Love said.
Love said her fiancée had a kind heart and was laid back. She enjoyed fishing, had her own clothing line and worked as a FedEx delivery driver.
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"I want to remember the Ernestine was an entrepreneur. She was a hard worker. She was just a great person all the way around."
FLOCK cameras and various surveillance footage connected Watkins to the case. He was arrested in September 2023.
Love feels the no-contest plea was a way for Watkins to avoid taking complete responsibility while keeping his options open to appeal his case.
"He's still not taking any accountability. He did it in cold blood He's a cold-blooded killer," Love said.
Prosecutors said Watkins confessed to the murder and admitted it was a case of misidentification.
According to prosecutors, Watkins and his girlfriend, Atavia Robinson, were shot outside of a movie theater in the Chapel Hill neighborhood in June of 2022.
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Robinson was killed. Akron police said the murder remains unsolved.
The murder of Stalling took place more than a year after Robinson's killing.
Prosecutors said Watkins pulled into the Dollar Tree parking lot and waited for Stallings to emerge from the store, mistakenly thinking she was the person involved in the death of Robinson.
"All he seen was the back of her head— and the back of her, she had braids that go down— and she had a baseball cap and she had glasses on and that's all he seen. It could have been anybody," Love said.
Watkins will be sentenced on Dec. 8. The hearing will also be held via video conference.
Prosecutors requested that Stallings's family be allowed into the courtroom to make statements. Love said she will do just that.
"The pain is still there. It's not going away," Love said. "Ernestine was an amazing person."
