On the night of August 17, 2025, Elijah Thomas Johnson, 21, a Black male from Carnegie, drove to a home on Walnut Street in Ellsworth, Washington County. Just after 11 p.m., first responders were called to the address and found Elijah Thomas Johnson, 21, male, gravely wounded inside; despite efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Reports placed the shooting at or near 24 Walnut Street, with calls coming in around 11:12 p.m., and investigators working through the early morning hours.
Within a day, Pennsylvania State Police identified and arrested 18-year-old Christopher Tarkelo Harper of Ellsworth. Authorities alleged that he forced his way into the Walnut Street residence and shot Elijah Thomas Johnson, 21, male, during a confrontation, characterizing the incident as an “isolated” dispute that unfolded inside the home. The following morning, state police announced that Harper was in custody after being picked up by New Castle police and transferred to state police barracks for booking.
Investigators and local outlets described a volatile personal conflict that had spilled into violence, with police saying Harper entered the residence where his former girlfriend—pregnant at the time—was staying and encountered Elijah Thomas Johnson, 21, male, inside. The account suggested a domestic dispute turned deadly, with the confrontation culminating in a single gunshot that killed him.
Prosecutors charged Harper with criminal homicide, burglary, and carrying a firearm without a license. In mid-September, after witnesses identified him as the gunman at a preliminary hearing, a judge ordered him held without bond and bound the case over for trial on all counts. As of that hearing, Harper remained incarcerated in the Washington County jail while the case moved forward.
Family notices and memorial pages later recorded Elijah Thomas Johnson, 21, male, as having died on August 17, 2025, with his name and age preserved in obituary listings and gun-violence memorials.
