Former Georgia receiver Ahkil Crumpton sentenced to 30 years for 2021 shooting death

Former Georgia wide receiver Ahkil Crumpton on Monday was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for a pair of crimes stemming from a March 2021 shooting that killed Oconee County resident Elijah Wood. Crumpton is also facing state-level murder charges, among other counts, in Georgia.

A federal jury convicted Crumpton on a pair of counts in October 2023: Interference with commerce by attempted robbery and making a false statement during the purchase of a firearm. Those combined offenses resulted in a minimum sentence of 30 years, followed by three years of supervised released after. Crumpton will not be eligible for parole.

“Crumpton’s crime was senseless, tragic and irreversible,” said Robert Gibbs, an FBI agent working out of the FBI Atlanta’s Athens office, in a release announcing the sentencing. “This sentencing reflects the commitment of the FBI to working with our law enforcement partners to hold violent offenders accountable to greatest extent the law allows. We hope that Elijah Wood’s family can find some sense of healing and justice in this sentence.”

Testimony and evidence presented at trial — and recapped in the release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia — recounted the events leading up to the shooting. Crumpton apparently entered the RaceTrac gas station and convenience store in Watkinsville, Georgia, on March 19, 2021, with his face covered and wearing black from head to toe. He also had what appeared to be football gloves on. He left the store upon seeing there was another customer, then came back around 1:15 a.m.

Crumpton approached the counter, where Wood was standing, and raised a Glock 19 pistol then fired a single shot, which hit Wood in the chest, according to the release. Wood died at the scene.

Crumpton then returned to his nearby apartment, which he shared with fellow Georgia football player and linebacker, Juwan Taylor. Crumpton apparently came back with his gun in hand, distressed.

“I didn’t mean to do it – I just wanted the money, I just shot him at the store, at the store,” Crumpton said then, according to the release.

Taylor later testified at Crumpton’s federal trial. He said he didn’t tell others about what happened as he was scared for his own wellbeing.

Crumpton played football at Georgia in 2017 and 2018, but was not longer on the roster as of 2019. He attended the University of Georgia through 2021 but did not graduate.

Crumpton returned to Philadelphia in the summer of 2021, months after the initial shooting. There, according to the release, Crumpton was involved in a pre-dawn armed robbery that ended with him firing 13 shots and killing the man who attempted to rob him. Federal law enforcement later confirmed a ballistics match between shell casings from that scene, the shell casing recovered from the RaceTrac gas station shooting and the Glock 19 found in Crumpton’s possession when he was arrested, according to the release.

Crumpton was arrested by federal law enforcement in Philadelphia on March 16, 2022.

Crumpton has a co-defendant in the case, James Armstrong, who claimed on a federal form that he was the purchaser of a firearm when Crumpton was the actual buyer; that falsification led to the second charge that Crumpton was convicted on. Armstrong is set for sentencing on March 20.

“Ahkil Crumpton’s violent crime ended Elijah Wood’s young life and has been the cause of immeasurable pain to many people in the Oconee County community and beyond,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Local, state and federal agencies have worked tirelessly to seek justice on behalf of Elijah. Our hope is the conclusion of the federal case offers some peace for all those who have been affected by this tragedy.”