Memorials for Victims

Criminal Details

The Enterprise Ledge
Danny Harrison - May 14, 2008

ENTERPRISE — An apparent domestic dispute turned deadly over the weekend, leaving an Enterprise woman dead and her husband in jail charged with shooting her to death.

Linda Johnson, 61, was shot multiple times and died later at a hospital. Her husband, Delma Gene Johnson, 65, has been charged with murder.

Enterprise Police Capt. Mike Lolley said officers responded to an emergency call by Linda Johnson from her home at 507 N. Rawls St. around 9:45 p.m. Saturday.

Lolley said officers were rounding the corner onto the street when they heard a pair of gunshots. Upon arrival, officers reportedly observed Linda and Gene Johnson laying on the ground outside the house. Lolley said a revolver was found near Gene Johnson's hand and he also was wounded in his right foot.

According to a police press release, the Johnsons were both taken to Medical Center Enterprise, and Linda Johnson was later transported to a Montgomery hospital where she died. Gene Johnson was treated and released before being arrested by police and charged with murder, according to a police news release.

Gene Johnson appeared in court late Monday afternoon where Coffee County District Judge Paul Sherling set bond at $100,000. Johnson remained in the Coffee County Jail after the hearing.

Lolley said Linda Johnson was shot several times in the chest, but was conscious when police arrived and told officers on the scene that her husband had shot her.

Lolley added the couple's 3-year-old granddaughter, who was uninjured, also told police her grandfather had shot her grandmother.

A neighbor, who witnessed what she said seemed to be a scuffle in the Johnson's front yard Saturday night, said she heard Linda Johnson say "You're not going to hurt anybody, I'll hurt you."

The neighbor then went inside to put her son to bed and said she heard four gunshots and called police.

She said she could hear the victim calling for help and the child calling for her grandmother.

Lolley said evidence pointed toward a disagreement between the Johnsons, who he said were married in September. He said police are uncertain about the reason for the argument.

"It looked like she had packed her car to leave," Lolley said.

Lolley added Gene Johnson "made some incriminating statements at the scene," and Lolley said alcohol may have been involved in the incident.

Next-door neighbors Mary Ann and Louie Thomas, who have lived in their North Rawls Street home around 30 years, said Gene Johnson has been a quiet neighbor for all of those years.

"You never saw him even out in the yard," Mary Ann Thomas said.

She said they had just gotten to know Linda Johnson in recent months as she worked in the yard and planted flowers.

"She was just a real nice person," Thomas said.

The Thomases said they and the Johnsons had recently complained to police that another neighbor's pit bulldogs had been threatening them. They said when they heard the shots Saturday night, they thought it was Gene Johnson or the police shooting at the dogs.

Lolley said the Johnsons' granddaughter was turned over to the Alabama Department of Human Resources, which later placed the child with family members.

Criminal Details

The Dothan Eagle
Matt Elofson - Aug 22, 2008

The parents of a teenage Wicksburg girl said justice prevailed Friday after a jury returned a guilty verdict against the man charged with murder for causing their daughter’s death.

After nearly three hours of deliberation, a jury found Robert Yancey Wills guilty of reckless murder.

Wills, 40, of Newton, faced the murder charge for the death of 15-year-old Whitney Leigh Lake on Saturday, Jan. 26. Wills has been held in the Houston County Jail on a $500,000 bond since his arrest.

“I think justice was served,” said Rebecca Lake, Whitney’s mother. “Everybody was extremely compassionate. It’s almost like it was their daughter too.”

Lake died from injuries she suffered in a single-vehicle crash, which ended a high-speed pursuit by Houston County Sheriff's deputies. The crash happened at a creek bridge on Judge Logue Road, several miles off U.S. 84 in the Wicksburg community. Wills was Lake's legal guardian at the time of her death.

Wills could face 10 to 99 years or life in prison for the class A felony conviction. He will have a sentencing hearing on Sept. 30 in front of Circuit Court Judge Ed Jackson.

“I want to thank everybody in case,” said Terry Lake, Whitney’s father. “Even Deputy (Tracy) Ward. I thought he did his job and he took some grief over it.”

The fatal crash happened after Houston County Sheriff’s Deputy Tracy Ward attempted to question Wills, the driver of what Ward referred to as a suspicious vehicle. Wills sped away instead and crashed a few miles away.

Terry Lake called the jury’s decision the “right” verdict. The jury had three other choices during their deliberations, including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and vehicular homicide.

“We want to thank God because we did a lot of praying,” Terry Lake said. “Nobody wins in this situation. I even feel sorry for their family a little bit.”

The jury’s verdict left several members of the Wills family in tears. Wills’ defense lawyer, Michelle Berthiaume, said the verdict left them saddened.

“We thought the fairer one would’ve been vehicular homicide,” Berthiaume said. “Unfortunately the jury found him guilty of the higher charge.”

Closing arguments

Houston County District Attorney Doug Valeska told the jury he didn’t have to prove Wills intentionally killed Lake, only that he killed her in a reckless manner.

“He had to get away because there was no way he could explain why he was with a 15- year-old who didn’t have a bra on,” Valeska said. “This is a little girl who didn’t have her under pants on who was with a 39-year-old man.”

Pictures of Lake's bloody body were shown on two televisions in the courtroom as Valeska made his closing arguments.

Valeska argued Wills fled from law enforcement because a deputy caught him acting suspiciously in a parked vehicle on a secluded road. He questioned why Wills didn’t stop to change his wet clothes from a hunting trip at a gas station instead of changing on a side street. Valeska argued Wills wasn’t changing his clothes, but getting dressed when the deputy shinned a light into the truck.

“There was no legal justification for the stop, not until he ran the stop sign,” Berthiaume said.

Berthiaume also argued Wills and Lake only wanted to “get comfortable” before they stopped off at a store on their way home.

“He said he caused her death while he was driving, it was an accident,” Berthiaume said. “It’s not like he went out of his way to do something malicious.”

Berthiaume suggested jurors choose from one of the lesser included charges.

She also argued her client was only traveling too fast for the conditions of the road. Previous testimony showed it was raining at the time of the crash.

“He cared about that girl,” Berthiaume said. “He’s dying every single day because of this issue.”

Criminal Details

The Dothan Eagle
Lance Griffin - Jan 9, 2008

For the second time in less than a week, a needless death will lead to a funeral for a 15-year-old boy from the Wiregrass.

Daniel Wayne “Danny” McKinnon, 15, was killed Tuesday morning in Dothan when a friend pointed a loaded .40 caliber pistol at him and pulled the trigger, thinking the gun was empty.

Instead, a bullet struck McKinnon in the chest. He was rushed by ambulance to Southeast Alabama Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Joshua Noel Jones, 22, was arrested and charged with manslaughter. He was released on $5,000 bond.

“This was a tragic, tragic death,” Dothan Police Chief John Powell said. “This could have been avoided. You never make the assumption a weapon is empty and you never point a weapon toward anyone.”

The death comes less than a week after 15-year-old Joey Drescher of Tumbleton was killed when his hunting companion fired into the woods near Shorterville at what he believed was a deer. The bullet struck Drescher in the chest. Christopher Michael Newman, 18, was charged with manslaughter in that case.

According to Powell, this is what is believed to have happened prior to the incident that killed McKinnon:

Four friends, Jones, McKinnon, Alicia Agler, 23, and Justin Whiddon, 19, had been riding around town in a Chevrolet Z71 pickup, “playing” with several firearms.

Whiddon and Jones had been pointing the weapons at each other and were “dry-firing” — pulling the trigger on an empty weapon. The four drove to a residence at the corner of Eastwood Drive and Ambrose Court and continued to play with the guns. At some point Whiddon and Agler got out of the truck. Jones picked up the .40 caliber pistol, pointed it towards McKinnon, who was in the rear of the truck, and fired.

Wilma Lanton, who lives directly across from the residence, said she heard what sounded like a “ping.”

“We didn’t think it was a gunshot,” said Lanton, who said she did not come out of her house until police and emergency responders arrived. “It’s just so sad.”

Agler called 911 at 8:54 a.m. Police and emergency responders arrived at 8:58 a.m.

“I don’t think either party was aware there was a round inside the weapon,” Powell said. “I think we need to remember the families on both sides are victims in this situation.”

Police recovered the .40 caliber pistol, two .22 caliber pistols, two .22 caliber rifles, a 7.62 mm rifle and a 7 mm rifle from the truck. The pistol was registered to Jones.

“Guns are not something to play with. They’re deadly,” Powell said.

Press Register
Paul Cloos - Dec. 28, 2007
View blog.AL.com

Arthur "Bobby" Wilson, a well-known Spanish Fort resident who owned and operated Wilson's Service Center since the early 1960s, died today, more than four months after he was brutally attacked at his business.

Wilson, 71, suffered a fractured skull in the early-morning attack Aug. 12 and initially lapsed into a coma. In September, he was moved from the University of South Alabama Medical Center to a local rehabilitation facility. He never returned home.

"It's just a shock right now," Tracey Goens, Wilson's daughter, said this morning.

Wilson's service station has been an Eastern Shore fixture, sitting at the top of the hill on Spanish Fort Boulevard, west of U.S. 98.

No one has been arrested in the Wilson case, although 23-year-old Leslie Eric Buzbee has been described as "person of interest" by local law authorities. He was arrested on unrelated drug charges when investigators served a search warrant at his home in September.

Criminal Details

The Dothan Eagle
Matt Elofson - Dec 26, 2007

A Samson man was shot dead three days after his 21st birthday during a dispute over a woman.

Authorities say Matthew Leske, of Kinston, shot and killed 21-year-old Brent Cook during a dispute early Wednesday in the front yard at Tasha Saulter’s home near Samson off County Road 10, according to Max Motley, Geneva County Coroner. Motley said Cook suffered a single fatal gunshot wound.

“He was shot in the left upper chest, and it exited on the opposite side in his back near his shoulder,” Motley said. “It’s a sad, sad world that we live in. We will cowardly shoot our way out of any situation.”

Motley said Cook, of Samson, had dated Saulter for years until a recent break-up when she started a relationship with another man. Gunfire ended an argument between Cook and Saulter.

But Geneva County Sheriff’s Investigator Tony Helms said Saulter’s new boyfriend, the 18-year-old Leske, fired that fatal shot killing Cook.

“They were outside arguing some, and he pushed his way inside the home,” Motley said. “He (Cook) pushed her and shoved her some more, and then she ran next door.”

At some point the argument led them outside the home into the yard. Motley said a rifle was likely used during the shooting which happened around 1 a.m.

Saulter lives at the home with several other relatives, but it’s unclear whether they were at home when the shooting happened, Motley said.

Geneva County Sheriff’s investigators arrested Leske, and charged him murder. He’s held without bond at the Geneva County Jail, Helms said.

“Matt was at the house, and Cook was shot to death,” Helms said. “Brent’s an old boyfriend and Matt’s a new boyfriend. It’s an argument that escalated.”

Criminal Details

dvwatch.blogspot.com
Unknown

A Newton man pleaded guilty Monday to stabbing his wife to death in front of their two young children on Christmas Eve.

Darrin Keith Johnson, 42, of U.S. 84 West, pleaded guilty to murder in front of Dale County Circuit Court Judge P. B. McLaughlin, Jr.

Dale County District Attorney Kirke Adams said Johnson used a knife to stab Allison Fuller Johnson multiple times inside the family’s home.

“He had come over to the house, was confronting her about their pending divorce and it got violent,” Adams said.

Adams said Johnson admitted guilt to the murder, which happened on Dec. 24, 2007. Johnson faces 10 to 99 years or life in prison for murder, along with a possible additional 20 years for use of a deadly weapon. Adams said the murder weapon was never found.

“This was a heinous crime, but what made it even worse was that he committed this murder on Christmas Eve in front of their two children,” Adams said in an e-mailed statement. “These domestic situations are very dangerous and can result in serious violence, like this one did. I understand that Johnson is pleading guilty and taking responsibility for his crime, but it doesn’t change the fact that he took a life.”

Criminal Details

The Dothan Eagle
Matt Elofson - Aug 22, 2008

Troopers with the Alabama State Highway Patrol are investigating a single-vehicle accident early this morning in Henry County that took the life of a 39-year-old Headland woman, according to the Henry County Coroner Derek Wright.

Dawn Hardy Lewis, 39, of Tumbleton community, died after a Headland teenager lost control of the pickup truck he was driving. Lewis was one of six people in the truck.

None of the others suffered life-threatening injuries.

One of the passengers, Rhonda Parrish, of Headland, suffered a hip injury and had surgery on Sunday afternoon at Flowers Hospital, Wright said.

He said the other passengers suffered minor injuries, including the 16-year-old driver, Alex Rushing, the teenager’s mother, Patty Rushing, Tammy Thompson and Melanie McCoy.

The accident happened on County Road 85 about four and a half miles northeast of Headland. Lewis was a backseat passenger in a F-250 pickup truck when the accident happened around 1:56 a.m., Wright said.

“It’s pretty bad because she has three children at home, and it’s right here at Christmas time,” Wright said.

blog.AL.com
The Associated Press - Nov. 24, 2009

DOTHAN, Ala. -- A Headland teen has pleaded guilty and asked for forgiveness from the family of a woman he killed during a 2007 crash.

Alex Rushing read a letter of apology in front of nearly a dozen family members of Dawn Lewis at the Houston County Courthouse on Monday.

Lewis, who was 39, died in the crash after the then 16-year-old Rushing lost control of his pickup truck. Six people were in the vehicle during the crash and several were injured.

Rushing, now 18, pleaded guilty Monday to the reduced charge of misdemeanor criminally negligent homicide as part of a plea agreement.

Circuit Court Judge Ed Jackson sentenced him to a year in the Henry County Jail, which was suspended for two years of probation.

He will pay $15,450 in funeral expenses and do 50 hours of community service.

Criminal Details

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