Man pleads guilty to charges in shooting death of pregnant woman

AKRON, Ohio — A 21-year-old Akron man pleaded guilty Thursday to two charges related to the 2022 fatal shooting of a pregnant woman.

Lenier Worthy is one of several people who were charged and convicted in the death of 21-year-old Teyaurra Harris in April 2022, according to Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich. Worthy pleaded guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter with firearm specifications and two counts of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.

“This was a difficult case in which an innocent pregnant woman was shot and killed because two groups of people used guns to settle a dispute,” Kolkovich said in a statement. “Summit County is safer with these people locked up.”

Prosecutors say seven men were involved in the shooting.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Zyeir Saunders, 22, Darrion Rackley, 20, Jeremiah Williams, 22, and Antonil Whitaker, 17, were parked on Rockaway Street in Akron on April 14, 2022. Nearby were Worthy, 19 years, Jaunte. Smith, Jaevaiaire Small, 21, and an 18-year-old.

Harris was a passenger in a car that stopped between the two groups, according to prosecutors. The driver of that vehicle stuck his head out the window and Saunders and Whitaker allegedly began shooting.

Prosecutors say Small thought the shots were coming from the car with Harris inside and opened fire. Harris, six weeks pregnant, died after being hit in the head by a bullet. The 18-year-old man, who has not been charged, was struck twice in the leg.

On the evening of April 14, 2022, Darrion Rackley, 20, Zyeir Saunders, 20, Antonil Whitaker, 17, and Jeremiah Williams, 21, parked on Rockaway Street in nearby Akron. where Lenier Worthy, Jaunte Smith, 19, Jaevaiaire Small, 21, and Ni’Kayla Johnson, 18, were hanging out. Teyaurra Harris, 21, was a passenger in a car that stopped near the two groups.

As the driver of the vehicle Harris was in stuck his head out the window, Saunders, Whitaker and Rackley began shooting. Ni’Kayla Johnson was hit twice in the leg.

Thinking the shots were coming from the vehicle with Teyaurra Harris, Worthy, Small and Smith began shooting. Harris, who was six weeks pregnant at the time, was struck in the head and died. Investigators determined that the shots Worthy fired were the ones that struck Harris.

In July 2023, Saunders was sentenced to 35 to 40 and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and four counts of felonious assault. In December, Rackley was sentenced to 34 to 39 1/2 years in prison, Whitaker to 20 to 24 years in prison, and Williams to 20 to 24 years in prison.

Rackley pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and two counts of felonious assault, all crimes with gun specifications. Whitaker pleaded guilty as an adult to the same charges. Williams pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and three counts of felonious assault, all crimes with gun specifications.

Jaeviaire Small pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, possession of a weapon while under disability and carrying a concealed weapon and was sentenced in June 2023 to four years in prison.

Jaunte Smith pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a firearm and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in September 2023.

Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Alison McCarty is scheduled to sentence Worthy on Nov. 22.