A quiet New Year's Day morning in the small community of State Line, Mississippi, was shattered by a brutal act of violence that claimed the lives of three people, including 60-year-old Lester Campbell, a Black male. On January 1, 2025, Campbell was at the Clark's convenience store with his girlfriend, Rhonda Denson, who was the store clerk on duty, when a masked gunman initiated a robbery that quickly turned deadly.
The incident unfolded as Campbell and Denson were opening the store in the early hours before 6 a.m.
The assailant first encountered and shot another man, Jason Thornton, who was outside the store. After shooting Thornton, the gunman entered the store and shot Campbell. During the robbery, Denson sought refuge by locking herself in a back room, but the attacker broke down the door. He then forced her to the front of the store to open the cash register and a safe. After she complied, he fatally shot her. The suspect stole money and Thornton's wallet before fleeing the scene in a stolen black Toyota Camry, which was later found abandoned about four miles away.
The investigation into the triple homicide led authorities to 37-year-old Drexler Johnson, a resident of State Line. Johnson was arrested on January 9, 2025, and was initially charged with accessory after the fact, with law enforcement alleging he had provided assistance to the primary shooter. As the investigation continued, with assistance from the FBI, the charges against Johnson were significantly upgraded. In late March, he was charged with three counts of capital murder and one count of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, indicating that investigators believe he was the gunman.
Following his initial arrest, Johnson was denied bond. Nine months after the killings, in September 2025, a grand jury found there was enough evidence to move forward with a trial, and he was officially indicted on the three capital murder charges. Johnson has a prior criminal history, having previously spent nearly a decade in prison for stealing guns and other weapons. He has been held in custody without bond since his arrest and is awaiting his court appearance on the capital murder charges. The case has deeply affected the small town of State Line, which is unaccustomed to such violent crime.
