A 23-year-old Akron man will spend at least the next two decades behind bars after pleading guilty to killing two people in separate shootings in 2023 — one of them a highway ambush that sent a vehicle crashing across the median, the other a drive-by that left a 17-year-old dead at a hospital. Ahmere Williams was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 23 years for his role in the deaths of Marquise Banks, 23, and Antenio Louis, 17.
Williams pleaded guilty Wednesday to the murder of Louis and the murder of Banks, according to cleveland19.com. In the Louis case specifically, he pleaded guilty to aggravated murder with a three-year firearm specification and to having weapons while under disability, the outlet reported. As part of the seed reporting on this case, Cleveland.com reported that Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder, one count of felonious assault and one count of having weapons under disability, and that he is eligible for parole after serving 23 years.
A Highway Shooting Ends in a Fiery Crash
Banks was shot on Aug. 3, 2023, while driving a Lincoln SUV southbound on Interstate 77, after shots were fired from a pickup truck traveling in the same direction, the station's report states. Cleveland.com reported that traffic cameras on I-77 showed a truck following Banks's vehicle before a person inside it fired into the SUV from the passenger side. Banks lost control, crossed the median and crashed into a Mercedes; he was shot several times and later died at a hospital, per the same account and Cleveland.com's reporting.
Investigators identified Williams as a suspect after receiving an anonymous tip along with cellphone data and other evidence, the same account notes. Cleveland.com additionally reported that camera footage, anonymous tips, cellphone information and other evidence led police to identify Williams as a suspect, and that he was described as a member of the Family Over Everything gang.
A Second Shooting Less Than Two Weeks Later
Just under two weeks after Banks was killed, Akron police were called to a shooting near East Glenwood Avenue and Damon Street, according to Cleveland.com. Antenio Louis was riding in a vehicle when a white Toyota Camry passed on the passenger side, then pulled in front of Louis’s vehicle before its occupants opened fire, striking both Louis and the driver, per the cleveland19.com account. Louis was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Darrin Welch Jr. was also identified as a suspect in the case. After his arrest, Welch confirmed his and Williams's involvement in the shooting and identified Williams as the shooter, prosecutors said, according to cleveland19.com's reporting.
Co-Defendant Already Sentenced in Related Case
Welch was sentenced in January 2025 to life in prison with the possibility of parole after a total of 25 years across two separate cases, per the outlet's reporting. In addition to his role in the Louis case, Welch pleaded guilty to murdering 18-year-old Marvin Rocker in March 2023, the report states.
Summit County Prosecutor Elliot Kolkovich addressed the toll of both killings in a statement to cleveland19.com. “The lives of both Marquise Banks and Antenio Louis were tragically cut short by this senseless violence. There is no tolerance for gang violence in Summit County,” Kolkovich said.
