In the late summer of 2017, the life of Michael Wayne Johnson, a 28-year-old male from Knoxville, Tennessee, was violently cut short. On August 29th, his body was discovered down an embankment off of Agnes Road in the Bearden area of West Knoxville, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds. The Knoxville Police Department's investigation into the shooting led them to a house on the same road, where the grim details of Johnson's final moments began to unfold.
Investigators determined that
Johnson had been at the residence where a man from Detroit, 24-year-old Jaleen Genard Allen, also known as 'Jay Skoop,' was present and attempting to sell heroin. A tragic confrontation ensued when Allen came to believe that Johnson had stolen a car belonging to one of his friends back in Detroit. This accusation led to Johnson being kidnapped within the home, his hands bound with duct tape in the basement. After a short period of captivity, Johnson was forcibly taken from the basement to the driveway of the house. It was there that Allen executed him, firing a. 40 caliber handgun a total of thirteen times.
Following the murder, Jaleen Allen fled from Knoxville in an attempt to evade capture. However, his flight from justice was short-lived. Weeks later, U.S. Marshals located and apprehended him in Detroit, finding a handgun in his possession at the time of his arrest. Forensic analysis conducted by the Knoxville Police Department confirmed that the shell casings recovered from the murder scene were a ballistic match to the firearm found with Allen. Further evidence presented by prosecutors included Facebook posts made by Allen where he was seen with the weapon prior to the killing.
In August of 2018, a jury found Jaleen Allen guilty of First Degree Murder, Especially Aggravated Kidnapping, and Employing a Firearm During the Commission of a Dangerous Felony. For these crimes, he received an automatic life sentence. A judge later added an additional 31 years to his sentence, ensuring he would spend the remainder of his life in a Tennessee prison. The Knox County District Attorney General's office noted that Allen's conviction was one of several cases involving a pipeline of heroin dealers from Detroit operating in Knoxville.
