MINNEAPOLIS — A broken father in a murder case sentencing hearing attempted to bring his son to life for the judge to see exactly how the family of Charlie Johnson is suffering.
"Charlie was the opposite of the violence that took his life. Charlie was a kind, gentle, empathetic, caring human being," Greg Johnson said.
Charlie was out with friends the night before his college graduation celebrating when a shootout outside the Monarch nightclub erupted. It was later determined that Jawan Carroll fired the shots that killed him.
Carroll admitted he was trying to shoot Christopher Jones, whom he also killed, and said he didn't mean to shoot Charlie and the seven others he wounded.
"I don't believe I can express how apologetic I am for the great loss both of our families suffer. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I ask for your forgiveness and hope one day you both will realize my true intentions," Carroll said.
But at his trial, the jury rejected Carroll's self-defense claim and convicted him of all counts. And at sentencing, Judge Paul Scoggin noted Carroll's choices to embrace gang and gun culture.
"All I can say is you hopped on that train years before and it finally crashed. And it's just terribly tragic that it crashed in such spectacular fashion," Scoggin said.
Judge Scoggin handed down a 69-year sentence. While Carroll is headed to prison, Charlie's family is left with the unfairness of it all.
"We're all left wondering, 'Why?' We've seen how he was murdered. But we're left wondering why, and there's no explanation for that," Greg Johnson said.
With the 69-year sentence, Carroll will serve 2/3 of it behind bars, so he will be released in about 46 years.
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