Carnell Mark Johnson Jr., a 23-year-old Black male, was fatally shot on the evening of October 24, 2024, in a townhome in New Hope, Minnesota. The incident occurred around 10 p.m. in a residence located in the 7300 block of Bass Lake Road. First responders found Johnson unconscious with a gunshot wound to the center of his chest. He was transported to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, where he was pronounced dead at 10:11 p.m.
The New Hope Police Department, with assistance
from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office, began a homicide investigation. Authorities initially stated that the shooting was not a random act and that the victim likely knew the shooter, who had fled the scene before law enforcement arrived. A woman in the home initially told police that an unknown person entered and shot Johnson while he was on the couch. However, after being shown surveillance footage that captured vehicles outside the home minutes before the shooting, she admitted to lying. She acknowledged that the suspect and two others had been at the home earlier in the day, where they had been drinking alcohol and using drugs. She stated she was in the kitchen when the shooting occurred and that she and the suspect held Johnson after he was shot, with the suspect repeatedly saying, "I'm so sorry," while she called 911.
On November 14, 2024, a 32-year-old suspect, identified as Jack Guy of Minneapolis, was arrested in Wisconsin in connection with Johnson's death. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder and illegal weapons possession. In August 2025, Guy pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter. The plea agreement led to the dismissal of the murder and gun possession charges. A judge sentenced him to nearly eight years in prison. With credit for time served since his arrest, he is expected to serve close to five years in prison, with the remainder of the sentence on supervised release. Guy, a repeat offender with numerous prior convictions, had been spared a five-year prison sentence on a previous weapons charge just months before the fatal shooting and was instead placed on probation.
