On a spring afternoon, a promising young life was tragically cut short in a place of quiet study and community. Johanna Emilie Justin-Jinich, a 21-year-old White/Caucasian female, was a junior at Wesleyan University, a student known for her passion for public health and poetry. On May 6, 2009, she was working her shift at the Red and Black Café, located inside the Broad Street Books near the Middletown, Connecticut campus.
The day was meant to be one of celebration for the university, marking the annual Spring Fling, but it turned into a scene of terror and heartbreak.
A man, later identified as Stephen Morgan, entered the bookstore disguised in a wig and glasses. He approached Johanna and shot her seven times before fleeing the scene. The sudden violence shattered the peace of the café, leaving witnesses in shock and a campus in fear. In the immediate aftermath, police found Morgan's journal, which contained chilling entries about his desire to kill Johanna and carry out a larger shooting spree targeting Jewish people at the university. This discovery prompted a campus-wide lockdown as a manhunt for the gunman ensued.
The investigation revealed a history of harassment that preceded the fatal encounter. Morgan and Justin-Jinich had met in the summer of 2007 while attending a class at New York University. Following their meeting, Justin-Jinich filed a harassment complaint against Morgan for a series of unwanted and insulting phone calls and emails. She ultimately chose not to press criminal charges at the time. An email she sent him in December 2008 expressed her fear, stating, "I am so tired of you STALKING me. Leave me alone!"
Less than two days after the shooting, on the evening of May 7, 2009, the extensive manhunt came to an end. After seeing his photograph in a newspaper, Stephen Morgan walked into a convenience store in Meriden, about 10 miles from the scene of the crime, and asked the clerk to call the police. He surrendered without further incident. He was subsequently charged with murder, intimidation due to bias, and carrying a pistol without a permit.
During the legal proceedings, the defense for Stephen Morgan argued that he was not criminally responsible for his actions due to severe mental illness. A forensic psychologist testified that Morgan suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, experiencing delusional thoughts. In December 2011, a three-judge panel found Stephen Morgan not guilty by reason of insanity. Instead of a prison sentence, he was committed to a maximum-security psychiatric facility for treatment.
