In the quiet southern town of Columbus, Mississippi, the life of 40-year-old Mitchell Drew Johnson came to a tragic and unexpected end on June 5, 2017. A graduate of New Hope High School's class of 1995, Johnson was a gifted baseball player, earning All-State, All-District, and All-Region honors. His talent on the diamond led him to be drafted by the Cleveland Indians after attending Meridian Community College.
Friends and family remembered him as a well-known and loved individual, though some noted that the death of his mother when he was just twelve years old was a profound loss from which he never fully recovered.
The circumstances of his death unfolded in a domestic setting, shattering the peace of their River Lane home. In a chilling turn of events, it was Johnson's own father, Larry Johnson, who alerted authorities to the tragedy. The then 69-year-old placed a 911 call on a Tuesday morning, approximately 12 hours after the fatal incident, reporting that he had shot and possibly killed his son. When deputies from the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office arrived at the residence, they discovered Mitchell Johnson deceased from a gunshot wound.
Larry Johnson was taken into custody at the scene and subsequently charged with the murder of his son. Investigators described the incident as a 'domestic situation' and indicated that an altercation had occurred between the father and son, though a specific motive was not immediately released. Following his arrest, Larry Johnson was held at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
An autopsy was ordered to be performed at the State Crime Lab in Jackson to formally determine the cause of death. Shortly after his arrest, Larry Johnson appeared for an arraignment in Lowndes County Justice Court. Citing his status as a property owner and not considering him a flight risk, the judge set his bond at $50,000, which he posted, leading to his release. The case proceeded through the legal system, leaving a family and community to grapple with the devastating loss of a son at the hands of his father.
