Robert Dante Delresse Lequan Creighton was a 25-year-old Black/African American man whose life ended in a fatal shooting in Wheeling, West Virginia, during the early morning hours of May 4, 2003. Funeral-home records give his birth date as October 8, 1977, confirming that he had not yet reached his twenty-sixth birthday. State records later identified Timia Jamar Johnson as the person responsible for shooting Creighton.
The hours before the shooting appeared ordinary.
According to testimony later given by Creighton's wife, Jackie Lynn Creighton, he had spent much of the evening at his brother's home watching a boxing match. He returned home at approximately 1:30 a.m. His wife testified that she did not smell alcohol on him and believed he had not been drinking. Creighton then left again to take his son to the child's grandmother. Sometime afterward, he went to an area outside a Wheeling bar, where testimony indicated he was waiting for a friend.
Creighton reportedly remained outside because he had previously been barred from entering the establishment. His wife later explained that the prohibition was connected to a pending lawsuit stemming from an earlier incident in which Creighton had fallen and broken his arm on the bar's premises, rather than from anything that occurred on the night of his death. While Creighton waited outside, Timia Jamar Johnson came out of the bar. According to testimony preserved in West Virginia court records, Johnson made a threatening statement indicating that he wanted to hurt or kill someone.
Creighton apparently believed Johnson's words were directed toward him, and a physical confrontation followed. His wife later testified that Johnson approached Creighton and that Creighton defended himself. Creighton's mother, Allecia Creighton, provided an even more detailed account during a later hearing. She testified that after the fight, her son was walking away when someone called his name. Creighton turned around and was shot in the neck.
Despite the severity of the wound, Creighton reportedly managed to run toward his vehicle. His mother testified that he removed or used his shirt and tied it around his neck in an effort to stop the bleeding. The attempt could not save him. He collapsed beside his vehicle and died there. His wife received a telephone call at approximately 3:30 a.m. telling her that he had been shot. She reached the scene only minutes later, but by the time she arrived her husband was already dead. Creighton's mother, who was in Cleveland, first learned of the shooting through a telephone call from her own mother at about 3:30 a.m.; approximately half an hour later, another call brought the news that her son had died.
The circumstances surrounding the confrontation later became important because questions were raised over whether Creighton's own actions had contributed to what happened. When his widow applied for assistance through the West Virginia Crime Victims Compensation Act, the claim was initially denied after an investigator concluded that Creighton was not an innocent victim under the compensation law. His family challenged that conclusion. At a September 16, 2004 hearing, his wife maintained that Creighton had not been drinking, while his mother testified that he was actually walking away from the confrontation when the fatal shot was fired. Donna Saunders, Creighton's godmother, described him as someone who did not start trouble, although he would defend himself if attacked. She also testified that she was raising his son, Deshawn Creighton.
After hearing the testimony, the West Virginia Court of Claims rejected the earlier conclusion that Creighton had engaged in contributory misconduct. The court determined that the evidence established that he had not been drinking and had not engaged in conduct that legally justified reducing or denying his family's claim. The earlier decision was reversed, and compensation was awarded for funeral expenses arising from the killing.
The criminal case did result in a conviction. State records specifically identify Timia Jamar Johnson as the offender who fatally shot Creighton in the neck. Johnson ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Because the case was resolved through a guilty plea, the available record does not indicate that the homicide charge proceeded to a completed jury trial. Johnson was sentenced to a prison term of three to fifteen years for Creighton's death.
Publicly accessible online records located for the case do not clearly establish Johnson's exact arrest date or provide a dependable account of the original charge filed immediately after the shooting. What is established by the official West Virginia record is that Johnson was held criminally responsible, admitted guilt to voluntary manslaughter, and received the three-to-fifteen-year sentence. Creighton's death therefore did not remain an unsolved Wheeling homicide: investigators identified his shooter, the case moved through the criminal justice system, and Johnson's guilty plea produced a conviction for the killing.
