On a summer night in Morgantown, West Virginia, the life of a charismatic 21-year-old Black / African American man, Rashad Malika Alton, was tragically cut short. On July 11, 2024, Alton was fatally shot on Mountain Valley Drive, a place that would become the final scene of his young life. He was rushed to Ruby Memorial Hospital but succumbed to his injuries, leaving a community and a loving family to grapple with the sudden and violent loss.
Friends and family remembered Rashad as a man with a smile that could illuminate any room, a natural protector who had a profound impact on everyone he met. A graduate of Morgantown High School's class of 2021, he had a passion for basketball and was in the process of launching his own car detailing business.
The investigation into Rashad's death quickly identified a suspect: 19-year-old Arnold Johnson III of Montgomery Village, Maryland. Authorities revealed that Alton and Johnson were acquaintances and that the shooting was not a random act of violence. It's believed that a verbal argument escalated, leading to the fatal encounter. Following the shooting, Johnson fled the state, prompting a search that extended to Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. He was considered armed and dangerous during the manhunt.
The search for Arnold Johnson III came to a close when he turned himself in to the Monongalia County Sheriff's Department on August 7, 2024. He was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and held without bond. In September 2025, Arnold Johnson III, then 20, was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the second-degree murder of Rashad Alton.
