In the late hours of a winter evening in Jonesboro, Arkansas, a call to the police reported an unresponsive person in a parking lot, setting in motion a homicide investigation. On January 31, 2025, officers arrived at 111 Daybreak Drive to find Derrick Johnson, a 24-year-old male from Gilmore, deceased from an apparent gunshot wound to his face. His body was discovered in the parking lot, but evidence within his gray Charger suggested the violent encounter had taken place inside the vehicle.
A significant amount of blood was found in the driver's area, where Johnson would have been seated.
Detectives began to piece together the final hours of Derrick Johnson's life. They learned he had been driving around with two other men, Terry Wofford, 24, and Christopher Daveon Smith, 26. The trio had reportedly left a residence on Henry Street around 8 p.m. with the intention of heading to Trumann. Surveillance footage from a gas station near the scene of the crime captured Johnson's vehicle pulling into the parking lot on Daybreak Drive at 9:44 p.m. The investigation uncovered that at 9:45 p.m., Wofford was seen running into his mother's apartment, which was located in the complex. Inside the car, investigators found two shell casings in the front passenger seat.
The investigation quickly led to the arrests of both Terry Wofford and Christopher Daveon Smith, who were each charged with first-degree murder. The narrative of what transpired inside the vehicle began to emerge through conflicting accounts from the two suspects. Smith, who was identified as the man in a white hoodie seen on the passenger side of the vehicle, initially fled, making statements that he was 'going back to prison for this.' He later turned himself in to authorities in Paducah, Kentucky. During an interview, Smith claimed that Wofford shot Johnson twice immediately after they parked the car. Conversely, Smith alleged that Wofford had used his gun in the commission of the crime.
Wofford was apprehended on a parole violation for listing his mother's address on a new ID instead of his own. When questioned about the shooting, he reportedly acted as though he had no knowledge of the incident and did not appear surprised or upset when informed he was being charged with murder. He declined to be questioned without a lawyer present. Following their arrests, Wofford was held on a $2.5 million bond, while Smith's bond was set at $1 million. Both were required to wear GPS ankle monitors as a condition of their potential release.
