In the summer of 2019, the life of a young woman was tragically cut short in Columbia, South Carolina. Brittany T. Johnson, a 25-year-old Black/African American female, was found deceased in her apartment on July 6, 2019. Born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 11, 1994, Johnson had moved to South Carolina with her family and was known as a devoted mother and a warm-hearted individual.
She worked at Carolina Gardens Assisted Living and was building a life for herself and her young son.
The circumstances of her death were the result of a violent act that also claimed the life of her assailant. Investigators with the Richland County Coroner's Office and the Columbia Police Department determined that Johnson died from gunshot wounds to the head and upper body. Her death was ruled a homicide. At the scene, law enforcement also found the body of 37-year-old Caven L. Wilson.
The investigation concluded that Wilson fatally shot Johnson before turning the gun on himself in a murder-suicide. Autopsies confirmed the cause of death for both individuals. As the sole suspect in Johnson's murder, Wilson's death at the scene brought an end to the criminal investigation, with no further arrests made or suspects sought. The community was left to mourn the loss of a young mother, remembered by her loved ones as an ambitious and loving woman whose future was stolen.
