Comment and Criticism, blog post by John Hoff
Click here for criminal complaint.
Thanks to an anonymous commenter who put this ol' blogger bloodhound on the scent, I've managed to confirm Devonere Armani Johnson is indeed the guy accused of an October 25 shooting on the "Bloody No. 19" bus route. Maddeningly, I still don't know the name of the victim, pictured above, except his initials are "L.G." and he goes by...
..."Low'end Savage" on Facebook. One of the victim's friends referred to him on Facebook as "Lamon Land" but that name doesn't completely match with "L.G." on the police complaint.
Baby Mama Drama
The motive of the shooting was simple and all-too-common in North Minneapolis shootings. The shooter and the victim had both been in a relationship with the same woman and, worse yet, there was a child involved so these people have to keep meeting each other and accumulating negative feelings.
In this case, Lowend is the father of the baby and the alleged shooter, Devonere Johnson, is the woman's current boyfriend. To avoid too many people with initials instead of names, I will refer to the shooting victim "L.G." as "Lowend."
According to the police complaint, which cites witnesses and video from Bloody No. 19, on October 25th Johnson was on the bus in the company of a child, which happened to be Lowend's child by a woman whose initial are M.S.
The woman, M.S., was also on the bus with her child and her current boyfriend Johnson. When Lowend boarded the bus along with somebody named R.R., Lowend and Johnson immediately got into a physical altercation. M.S. fled the bus with her child but heard a gunshot behind her. Presumably, the child heard the gunshot, too, which paralyzed the child's biological father.
Witnesses on the bus and the bus video seem to show Johnson having Lowend in a headlock and saying he was going to shoot Lowend, then actually firing a shot which (according to police) severed Lowend's spinal cord at the neck. Baring a miracle of medical science, Lowend will never walk again.
However, evidence seems to show it was Lowend who initially attacked Johnson. This may be one reason Johnson is only charged with assault resulting in great bodily harm and not second degree attempted murder.
Too Much Force Or Legitimate Fear For His Life?
A person may use force to defend themselves, but it's easy to argue that shooting somebody in the neck is too much force. But if Lowend attacked Johnson, and Johnson was trying to defend himself by pulling a gun in the middle of a violent wrestling match, and Johnson said, reportedly, "Stop dude, let go or I'm going to shoot, I'm going to shoot" then wasn't Johnson saying, in effect:
"Pull off and cease fighting me immediately, or I will use deadly force?" (Nerd voice)
What was Johnson supposed to do? Let Lowend wrestle him for the gun, take it, and use Johnson's gun on Johnson? Johnson only had seconds to take action. In fact, Johnson had LESS than seconds and Johnson didn't ask for Lowend to come on the bus and viciously attack him.
Then again, I haven't seen the video and I trust the prosecutors are making the right call. The whole thing is an awful mess. Where is marriage? Where are stable families and children born in holy wedlock? North Minneapolis?
Not so much.
The Guilty Flee When None Pursueth?
Following the shooting, what did Johnson do? Did he turn himself into the police and say, "I was forced to defend myself. The evidence will show I am innocent"?
No, police say Johnson purchased a Greyhound bus ticket to Chicago.
I guess police found him anyway.
Johnson (born October 10, 1991) is no stranger to Chicago. Click here for a link to information about an arrest in Cook County which contains Johnson's likeness. He's also been arrested in Memphis, Tennessee. More than once, as a matter of fact. (Credit to anonymous commenter who kindly provided these links and did the work for me)
Change Of Address?
Jail roster information previously listed Johnson at 1507 Newton Ave. N., however the criminal complaint lists his address as 907 Penn Ave. N., No. 2. However, both addresses are owned by the same landlord:
Assertive Minneapolis Properties LLC.
10 comments:
KUSH hat with Poinsettia leaves. That's a public radio station pledge week giveaway? Amright?
http://pinsta.me/playboishyt
An anonymous commenter with a "do not publish" request has put a name in front of me that begins with "Lamon" and has a surname starting with "G."
I looked up this name on MNCIS and found a person with a minor criminal record who lives in Brooklyn Center. I am still trying to confirm or deny whether that name matches the victim.
Lamon shot up Devon's brothers house before this happened and also Devon couldn't so much as walk to the corner store without being persued by Lamon. I feel like he was jealous of the "baby momma" boyfriend (Devon).
If Mr. Johnson wants to tell his side of the story I am open to publishing it but there's certainly no excuse for a shooting of this kind. There law has restraining orders, civil suits and so forth. Those are the avenues to pursue, not shooting somebody.
Allegedly.
I'm still happy to print his side if he cares to forward it to me.
That is rite in that is y Devon beat the two charges
You are correct. Johnson was acquitted this week. Here is a link to a Star Tribune article about the acquittal.
http://www.startribune.com/local/west/294421601.html
Good work, Johnny. Your reporting is much more informative than the old media.
Please take note of what I wrote in the article about how Johnson may have had no choice. This acquittal does not come as a shock. But hopefully Johnson will learn whatever lessons can be learned and never find himself in this kind of situation, ever again.
Devonere has threatened to shoot other people trying to defend ms from his physical abuse and has been peddling h on the n side. Ms is a dumb chick that continues to defend her sorry ash bf . Send him back to chi because shes loose and another dude will be wrapped up in bs in no time due to the trash these indviduals create and throw around the neighborhood.
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