In the fall of 2023, Shaliyah Collins, a 19-year-old Black female, was living in Savannah, Georgia, with her boyfriend, Kewan Crawford. The young couple had obtained a marriage license just a month earlier and were planning their future together. In the early morning hours of October 27, 2023, that future was cut short. Police responded to a call around 12:20 a.m. about a man in the roadway on the Truman Parkway and discovered the body of 48-year-old Phillip Mock, who had been shot.
A search of the area led to a second tragic discovery: the body of Shaliyah Collins was found in a marshy area below the parkway, also dead from gunshot wounds.
Investigators learned that Phillip Mock, a caring uncle and father, was a Good Samaritan who had stopped his car to help after seeing a vehicle on the side of the road. He was on his way to pick up his daughter from work when he was senselessly killed. Police quickly determined there was a connection between Shaliyah and the suspect, but that she and Mock did not know each other. They described the case as the "senseless murder of two innocent people."
The investigation swiftly identified Derek Maurice Johnson, the stepfather of Shaliyah’s boyfriend, as the suspect. A manhunt ensued, and two days later, on October 29, 2023, Johnson was arrested by police in St. Petersburg, Florida, more than 300 miles from Savannah. He was extradited back to Chatham County to face charges. A grand jury indicted Johnson on two counts of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault for the deaths of Collins and Mock. The indictment also included a charge for concealing the death of another, alleging that Johnson had thrown Shaliyah's body from an overpass into the marsh below.
Derek Johnson’s trial took place over two weeks in July 2026. After hearing testimony, a Chatham County jury returned a split verdict. They found Johnson not guilty of malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault in the death of Shaliyah Collins. However, the jury found him guilty of concealing the death of another, believing he was responsible for disposing of her body.
For the death of the Good Samaritan who stopped to help, the jury found Johnson guilty on all counts, including malice murder, felony murder, and aggravated assault. In September 2026, a judge sentenced Derek Johnson to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 15 years. Under the law, Johnson cannot be retried for the murder of Shaliyah Collins.
