MESSAGE FROM PROSECUTOR SHERRI BEVAN WALSH

Contact:  April Wiesner

(330) 643-8386

Higgins Sentenced to More Than 8 Years

(September 14, 2011, Akron) … Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh announced today that Thomas Higgins, 19, of St. Michaels Ave. in Akron, has been sentenced by Judge Tom Parker to eight years and 10 months in prison for Felonious Assault with a gun specification. The sentence includes five years for the Felonious Assault conviction, which runs consecutively to the three-year gun specification and a 10-month suspended sentence from a 2010 conviction.

On February 14, 2011, the victim and his brother picked up two male passengers. In the course of the ride, Higgins pulled out a gun and demanded the victim’s money. A struggle ensued, and the victim was shot in the shoulder. The victim’s brother drove a couple blocks away and called police. About five hours later, Higgins was arrested riding around in a car. To date, the other male in the car has not been located.

Higgins was found guilty by a jury on August 12, 2011.

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