In the autumn of 2014, the life of 19-year-old Dominique Johnson was cut short in a burst of gunfire in Knoxville, Tennessee. An African American male, Johnson was the victim of a drive-by shooting on October 3, 2014, in the Walter P. Taylor Homes apartment complex. He was standing on a porch with another person when a car passed by, and multiple shots were fired.
Johnson was struck and died at the scene.
The investigation into his death quickly pointed to a feud between rival street gangs. Authorities identified Johnson as a member of the Tree Top Pirus, a subset of the Bloods. The man they would ultimately charge with his murder, 18-year-old Jabriel Airece Linzy, was a member of the Rollin 60s Crips. The conflict between the two had reportedly been escalating, playing out both in person and on social media.
Following the shooting, Linzy fled the area, prompting the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to add him to their Most Wanted list. The manhunt came to an end in Chattanooga in early January 2015, when he was captured without incident by a team of TBI agents, U.S. Marshals, and Chattanooga police. He was then transported back to Knox County to face charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and employing a firearm during a dangerous felony.
During his trial, prosecutors presented evidence of the ongoing animosity between Linzy and Johnson. They detailed how Linzy drove to the apartment complex, found Johnson on the porch, and opened fire. A witness also testified that Linzy had inquired about throwing the murder weapon into a river. In October 2015, a jury found Jabriel Linzy guilty on all counts. For the first-degree murder of Dominique Johnson, he received a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole after 51 years. The District Attorney's office also sought enhanced sentences for the other charges to ensure he would remain incarcerated for as long as possible.
