Ex-UGA football player indicted in federal court in clerk’s shooting, faces life

Ahkil Crumpton, a former University of Georgia student and football player, was arrested in the fatal shooting of an Oconee County gas station clerk nearly a year after the fatal shooting. He was indicted Tuesday on four charges that could send him to prison for life.

Credit: Oconee County Sheriff's Office

Credit: Oconee County Sheriff's Office

Ahkil Crumpton, a former University of Georgia student and football player, was arrested in the fatal shooting of an Oconee County gas station clerk nearly a year after the fatal shooting. He was indicted Tuesday on four charges that could send him to prison for life.

A federal grand jury has indicted a former University of Georgia football player on four charges tied to the killing of an Oconee County gas station clerk.

Ahkil Nasir Crumpton faces life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges. The 24-year-old Philadelphia native was arrested in his hometown and charged with murder March 16.

Authorities said Crumpton shot and killed Elijah James Wood, 23, while trying to rob a RaceTrac on Hog Mountain Road outside of Watkinsville on March 19, 2021. Wood was working the graveyard shift alone the night of the shooting, according to reports.

Oconee County investigators were able to use ballistics evidence to connect Crumpton to the shooting. Deputies forensically matched a shell casing found at the gas station to casings found at a crime scene in Philadelphia for which Crumpton was also a suspect, investigators said.

The grand jury returned indictments against Crumpton on charges of murder, attempted robbery, use and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence and false statement during the purchase of a firearm. The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Middle Georgia announced the indictments in a news release Tuesday afternoon.

Former University of Georgia wide receiver Ahkil Crumpton scores a touchdown during a 2017 game against Georgia Tech.

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

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Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

According to allegations in the indictment, Crumpton’s co-defendant, James Armstrong, illegally purchased the 9mm Glock pistol used to kill Wood. Investigators said the 34-year-old Commerce man bought the weapon at a gun store in Athens less than six weeks prior to the shooting. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Armstrong falsely claimed on a transaction form required by licensed firearms dealers that he was buying the pistol for himself, but it was really for Crumpton.

Armstrong was indicted on charges of lying on the federal forms and buying the gun illegally.

Crumpton played wide receiver for UGA in 2017 and 2018. He was a student until 2021, according to the sheriff’s office. He did not graduate, according to UGA officials.