A former Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
On Wednesday, it was announced that ex-UGA wideout Ahkil Crumpton was placed under arrest for his alleged connection to a fatal shooting back in March 2021.
Elijah Wood was murdered at a gas station on March 19th as he was working an overnight shift at the RaceTrac. A masked gunman walked into the store, pointed a gun and pulled the trigger, per police reports.
After a police investigation that yielded a ballistics match, an arrest warrant was issued for Crumpton nearly one year later. The 24 year old has since been brought in custody.
The Sheriff’s Office addressed the arrest Facebook:
Today is 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! Through countless hours of painstaking investigative work, we finally have the information we have been waiting on. With the help of our partners at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) we have Identified Ahkil Crumpton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the suspect in the March 19, 2021, murder of Elijah James Wood at the RaceTrac on Hwy 441 in Oconee Co.
This information was received on February 15, 2022 through our ATF partners after a search of the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) database produced a ballistic match of shell casings. The shell casing from the crime scene at the RaceTrac and a shell casing from a crime scene in Philadelphia were forensically examined and determined to be matched. I immediately launched an investigation to determine if the shooter was the same in both cases. This investigation consisted of Oconee Co. Sheriff’s Office, ATF, FBI, and Philadelphia Police Department with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Middle District of Georgia and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia Police Investigators advised they suspected Ahkil Crumpton was the shooter in their case. Oconee Co. investigators quickly established a link between Philadelphia and Athens. Crumpton is from Philadelphia, played football for the University of Georgia (UGA) in 2017 and 2018, and was a student at UGA until 2021. This information led to a more in-depth investigation, which produced evidence to secure an arrest warrant for Ahkil Nasir Crumpton for the murder of Elijah Wood. This is an active investigation, and no further details are being released at this time.
For the past year we have seen the pain, agony, and frustrations this murder has brought to Elijah’s family, friends, and to our community. We all know this arrest will not bring Elijah back, but we hope his family, friends, and this community can now begin the healing process. We also know that the fight is not over. We must now successfully prosecute the case in a court of law.
Crumpton recorded just 10 receptions for 117 yards and one touchdown during his two-year career with the Bulldogs.
