In the summer of 2015 in Omaha, Nebraska, a series of violent events culminated in the death of 19-year-old Garion Johnson, a Black male. The tragic end to his young life on August 8, 2015, was not an isolated incident but the final act of a targeted campaign against him. Just three days prior, on August 5, Johnson had his first brush with death. While he sat in his car outside a residence on Pinkney Street, an assailant approached and opened fire.
Johnson managed to escape on foot as the gunman gave chase. This initial attack set in motion a chain of events that would not only claim his life but also that of a witness.
The violence escalated the very next day. On August 6, Deprecia Neelon, who had witnessed the first attempt on Johnson's life, was murdered outside her home. Investigators believed she was targeted to silence her. With a key witness eliminated, the perpetrators turned their focus back to their original target. The final and fatal attack occurred two days later. On August 8, Johnson was in his white Chevy Impala near his home on Fontenelle Boulevard when two individuals ambushed him. The attackers, described as wearing black hooded sweatshirts, fired multiple shots into the driver's side of the car. Mortally wounded, Johnson lost control of the vehicle, which then crashed into a nearby garage. When law enforcement arrived, they found him inside, having died from seven gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the interconnected shootings led police to two primary suspects: Preston Pope and Marcus Short. The case against them was built on witness testimony and forensic evidence. A crucial piece of evidence was a. 357 Magnum revolver from which projectiles recovered from Johnson's body were fired; the weapon carried Preston Pope's palmprint. Another handgun, a. 45-caliber, was found in Short's bedroom and was ballistically linked to the murder of Deprecia Neelon. Shell casings from all three shooting incidents were also matched to the same. 45-caliber handgun, tying the scenes together. Both men were charged with first-degree murder for the deaths of Johnson and Neelon.
The legal proceedings for the two men were complex and took separate paths. Preston Pope was tried and convicted by a jury for the first-degree murders of both Garion Johnson and Deprecia Neelon. He received two life sentences for his crimes, and his convictions were upheld by the Nebraska Supreme Court in May 2020. Marcus Short's journey through the justice system involved a significant hurdle when his first trial for Johnson's murder ended in a mistrial in May 2018 because of jury tampering. He was later retried for both homicides in a single case. In February 2019, a jury found Marcus Short guilty for his role in the murder of Garion Johnson, but acquitted him of the charges related to Deprecia Neelon's death.
