In the crisp autumn air of November 5, 2018, the life of 20-year-old Jaquain Johnson, a male resident of Poughkeepsie, New York, was irrevocably altered. That evening, in the vicinity of Mill and Garden streets, the sound of gunfire shattered the city's calm. Johnson was shot and found lying in the middle of the westbound arterial. He succumbed to his wounds the following day, leaving a community to grapple with the senseless violence that claimed a young life.
The investigation into
Johnson's death led authorities to 37-year-old Terry Cherry of Poughkeepsie. At the time of the shooting, Cherry was already in the Dutchess County Jail, having been arrested by New York State Parole for a parole violation on the very same day as the incident. In early December 2018, while still incarcerated, Cherry was formally charged with second-degree murder for his role in Johnson's death.
The legal proceedings that followed brought another individual to the forefront of the investigation. Oba Johnson, then 41 years old, was also implicated in the murder. After a two-week jury trial that concluded on October 1, 2019, both Terry Cherry and Oba Johnson were found guilty of murder in the second degree. The case against them was prosecuted by the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office, following a thorough investigation by the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department.
In December 2019, the two men were sentenced for their crimes. Terry Cherry, who was 38 at the time of sentencing, received a sentence of 25 years to life in State Prison for the murder charge. He was also sentenced to a concurrent term of 15 years for criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Shortly thereafter, Oba Johnson was also sentenced to 25 years to life in State Prison for his conviction of murder in the second degree, bringing a measure of closure to the tragic and untimely death of Jaquain Johnson.
