Former UGA football player arrested for murder of Oconee County RaceTrac clerk
OCONEE COUNTY, Ga. - Law enforcement authorities have arrested a former UGA football player identified as the suspect in the murder of an Oconee County RaceTrac gas station employee.
Elijah Wood, 23, was working the overnight shift at the RaceTrac located in the 7900 block of Macon Highway on March 19, 2021. A masked gunman walked into the store, pointed his handgun at Wood, and pulled the trigger around 1:40 a.m., investigators said.
After nearly a year of searching, the Oconee County Sheriff's Office said they were notified in February by agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms of a ballistic match used in Wood's murder. According to investigators, the match showed the same gun was used in July at a homicide in Philadelphia after Wood's murder.
$50,000 REWARD FOR INFORMATION IN OCONEE COUNTY MAN'S MURDER
After a multi-agency investigation, officials said they identified the main suspect as Ahkil Crumpton. Law enforcement arrested Crumpton on Wednesday morning in West Philadelphia and charged him with Wood's murder.
Crumpton faces weapons charges in Pennsylvania, but sources believe those charges could be upgraded. It was not clear when he would be be extradicted back to Georgia.
Posting on Facebook, the Oconee County Sheriff's Office said "today was the day Elijah Wood’s family, everyone here at the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, and our community has been waiting for. WE GOT HIM!"
"It’s a great relief to finally have the suspect in custody," Oconee County Sheriff James A. Hale Jr. said in a statement. "For the past year Oconee Co. investigators along with our state, federal, and local law enforcement partners have tirelessly worked this difficult case. Although challenging, we were always confident we would find the person responsible for this senseless murder."
RaceTrac also put out a statement following the arrest that reads:
"We continue to be devastated by this senseless tragedy. Our hope is that Elijah’s family and the Oconee County community rests a little easier now that a suspect has been identified. The Watkinsville RaceTrac team will remember him as the always smiling big teddy bear who was an incredibly hard worker and their go-to guy. Elijah will be dearly missed by the entire RaceTrac family."
Akhil Crumpton
Who is Akhil Crumpton?
A Philadelphia native, Crumpton attended Los Angeles Valley Community College before to transferring to UGA.
In Athens, Crumpton was a wide receiver for the University of Georgia from 2017 to 2019. He played in 24 total games in his career, according to UGA Athletics.
According to investigators, Crumpton was a student at UGA until 2021, the year that Wood was killed.
Who was Elijah Wood?
Wood was beloved by many and was apparently known well by the sheriff's office investigating his murder.
A memorial stood in front of the RaceTrac where Wood worked and died months after the incident.
Wood's father, Todd Wood, told Hale in a video posted on the sheriff's office YouTube channel before the arrest that said he spent months mourning his son's death but the grief will never go away.
"I prefer to view this as, God's got it in his hands, he's always got it in his hands," Todd Wood said. "I completely trust the law enforcement behind this."
Wood's brother-in-law, Tripp Lemmonds said he wishes the killer would turn themselves in. The sheriff admits this is a difficult case saying investigators have questioned 43 people of interest, executed 12 search warrants, and conducted countless interviews.
"It still hurts as much today as it did the morning of the murder," Lemmonds explained.
Lemmonds said volunteers have distributed thousands of flyers have as far as North Carolina and Alabama.
"Once sentenced, then we'll have some relief of it and then there can be some forgiveness because we are a godly family," Lemmonds.