Oconee County: Elijah James Wood’s Murder Suspect Arrested

A former UGA football player has been arrested for the March 2021 murder of Elijah James Wood in Oconee County. Through investigations by Oconee County Investigators, ATF agents, FBI agents, and Philadelphia P.D. Investigators, Akhil Crumpton of Pennsylvania was identified as the murder suspect.

From Oconee County Sheriff’s Office:

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 Akhil 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. Investigators, ATF and FBI agents, and Philadelphia P.D. Investigators.

Philadelphia Police Investigators advised they suspected Akhil 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 Akhil 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.

Although an arrest has been made, this case is still an active investigation. We urge anyone with information on this case to come forward. You may contact the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 769 3945

Sheriff James A. Hale Jr.