In the early evening of February 19, 2020, 35-year-old Tiwuan Johnson was fatally shot while sitting in his car at a Citgo gas station on North Hairston Road in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Surveillance footage from that evening captured the events as a black four-door sedan parked next to Johnson's vehicle. A man in a gray hooded sweatshirt exited the sedan and entered the front passenger seat of Johnson's car. Another individual, a Black male, went into the convenience store before running out and initiating a physical altercation with Johnson, who was still in the driver's seat. Shortly after, Johnson fell out of his car and onto the pavement of the parking lot as the suspects fled the scene. He left behind a wife and two children.
For years, the case grew cold, leaving Tiwuan Johnson's family with unanswered questions and a lingering sense of uncertainty. His widow, Ashlee Johnson, tirelessly advocated for justice for her husband, expressing the deep pain of not knowing who was responsible for his death. Her persistence and public pleas for information eventually drew renewed attention to the case. In early 2025, she voiced her concerns that the investigation had stalled, which prompted the DeKalb County District Attorney's office to revisit the homicide as part of its Cold Case Task Force, utilizing federal grant money to apply new technology to the existing evidence.
The renewed investigation, aided by media coverage, led to a breakthrough in the case. On August 22, 2025, Kenneth Jamie Harris, then 26 years old, was arrested and charged with murder in connection to Johnson's death. Authorities cited surveillance footage as a key piece of evidence in identifying him as a suspect. About a month later, a second arrest was made. Markel Porter, also 26, was taken into custody and charged with felony murder. The arrests brought a wave of relief and emotion to Johnson's family, who had waited over five years for progress in the investigation. The news of the first arrest was shared with Tiwuan's ailing father just days before he passed away from cancer, bringing a measure of peace to the family in a time of sorrow.
