A man accused of capital murder in a shooting Texarkana, Ark., police describe as a drug-related home invasion entered a not-guilty plea last week.
Capital murder is punishable by death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Black said a decision has not yet been made as to whether the state will seek a death sentence.
Judge Johnson scheduled Justin Johnson to return to court for a pretrial hearing in August.
It was a few minutes before midnight Nov. 15 when Trevon Staten, 22, opened the door of apartment 102 for someone he apparently knew. The man who knocked on the door didn't enter the apartment, but several masked men, one of whom investigators believe was Justin Johnson, allegedly walked in shooting. Staten was shot and killed.
Staten's girlfriend and her baby were unharmed. Rashod Rushing, who had allegedly been sitting at a table with Staten when the bullets began to fly, reportedly grabbed a pistol and ran out the door. Rushing allegedly saw one of the masked men, Julian Bolton, crawling on the ground outside. Bolton had apparently been shot during the fray inside the apartment moments before.
Rushing, 28, allegedly shot Bolton twice more, killing him. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell filed a second-degree murder charge against Rushing in February. Second-degree murder is punishable by six to 30 years and a fine up to $15,000.
Justin Johnson was picked up by federal marshals in mid-April after nearly five months at large. Documents filed Thursday charging him with capital murder allege he was in the course of committing aggravated robbery when he took Staten's life.
Justin Johnson was wanted by Texas authorities on a probation revocation warrant at the time of the Beacon Point shooting. Officials with adult probation in Bowie County acquired a warrant for Justin Johnson in October 2014 after filing a motion to revoke his probation on a misdemeanor drug charge. Justin Johnson received a one-year term of probation in April 2013 for possession of liquid codeine cough medicine without a prescription. The probation was later extended for six months.
The violations alleged in the motion to revoke include two positive drug tests for marijuana, failure to submit to drug testing, failure to report to a probation officer, failure to complete community service restitution and failure to pay court-ordered fees.
Less than a year before, Justin Johnson was assessed misdemeanor probation in Bowie County, he was acquitted by a jury in Albuquerque, N.M., of criminal charges, including two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and abuse of a child causing great harm or death, according to New Mexico court records. Records show Justin Johnson was acquitted of the charges July 13, 2012, at the end of a five-day trial. A single count of evidence tampering was dismissed by the court.
According to media reports in New Mexico, Justin Johnson was accused of killing two brothers, one of whom was 15, and of critically injuring a woman in a drug-related shooting in April 2010. Justin Johnson was arrested by Texarkana, Texas, police in May 2010 and extradited to New Mexico for trial, media reports state.
Justin Johnson is being held in the Miller County jail without bail. Rushing remains in the Miller County jail. His bail is set at $500,000.