The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Canton man accused of killing girlfriend, kin
30-year-old victim was pregnant; her uncle also was slain.
After shooting and killing his pregnant girlfriend and her uncle, a Canton man called 911 and confessed what he had done. Then,
Kristopher Martin Johnson told the operator he was in a grocery store parking lot, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff ’s Office.
Johnson, 30, was arrested that night, March 23, at a Canton Ingles. But a week later, investigators have not released a possible motive in the deadly killings.
After Johnson called 911 around 8 p.m., Canton officers
and Cherokee deputies went to the Old Donaldson Road home where he said he shot the two people and also to the Ingles, the sheriff ’s office said.
At the home, deputies found the bodies of Carla Marie Payne, 30, and Thomas Richard Donaldson, 65, both of Canton. At the Ingles, Johnson was arrested. An autopsy conducted Friday determined Payne was preg- nant when she was killed, the sheriff ’s office said.
Johnson has been charged with two counts of malice mur- der, feticide and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. He remained in custody Tuesday at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center, where he was being held without bond.
A memorial service is planned Saturday for Payne at the Darby Funeral Home chapel, according to her online obituary. She is survived by three brothers and a sister. Donaldson’s service will be Sunday at Darby Funeral Home, his obituary states. He is survived by two sisters and a brother.
The Cherokee sheriff’s office, which investigated one homicide in 2020, has investigated six so far this year. Earlier this month, four people were killed in a shooting at Youngs Asian Massage Parlor.