Michael Johnson

In the quiet, pre-dawn hours of Thursday, June 10, 2010, the sounds emanating from a modest home at 1217 Hillside Avenue in Nashville were those of creation. Inside a homemade recording booth, 34-year-old Michael A. Johnson, a male, was immersed in a music session with two companions. Their work, however, was destined to be tragically interrupted.

At approximately 3:00 a.m., the sanctity of the makeshift studio was shattered by the intrusion of two unidentified men. Without warning, they ...