Former CHP officer gets 50 years for husband’s murder
Tomiekia Johnson was convicted of shooting her husband in the head. Judge rejects plea for leniency.
Family members of Tomiekia Johnson gather outside the L.A. courthouse where she was sentenced for the fatal 2009 shooting of Marcus Lemons.
A former California Highway Patrol officer whose tearful testimony and declarations of self-defense failed to sway a jury was sentenced Friday to 50 years to life in prison for killing her husband.
Tomiekia Johnson wept with her head down as the judge ordered her to serve two consecutive terms of 25 years to life in prison for first-degree murder and the use of a firearm that caused great bodily harm. A jury convicted Johnson in January of shooting Marcus Lemons in the head Feb. 21, 2009, during a heated argument on the side of the road in Compton.
The sentencing marked the end of a case that has been filled with allegations of domestic violence and volatile tempers. In a rare conviction of a law enforcement officer for murder, the conclusion was as emotionally charged as the trial. When the verdict was read in January, Johnson collapsed under the defense table and had to be wheeled from the courtroom by paramedics.
During Friday’s 13-minute sentencing, Johnson’s attorney Darryl A. Stallworth argued for the judge to throw out the guilty verdict to make way for a new trial or show leniency and reduce the charges to manslaughter.
“The type of mental state and the evidence supports a hostile, combative, emotional and provocative exchange,” Stallworth said.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert Perry denied both requests, but acknowledged that he contemplated reducing the charges to second-degree murder. Instead, he said, he chose to honor the jury’s decision.
“I believe the evidence strongly supports the verdict,” Perry said.
Johnson, 32, and her husband, 31, had been drinking at a TGI Friday’s in Compton when they got into an argument.
Prosecutors Natalie Adomian and Stephanie Sparagna presented evidence that showed that on theway home, Johnson put a gun to her husband’s head and shot him. She drove a few miles to her parents’ home with the body in the car before calling 911.
During the trial, the prosecution called witnesses who portrayed Johnson as a wife with an aggressive personality and a tendency to drink excessively.
When Johnson testified in her own defense, she tearfully recounted the night that she killed her husband. She said she was driving home when Lemons “snatched” the keys out of the ignition. A struggle ensued over her purse, she said.
“I think he wanted my purse for the gun in the purse,” said Johnson, whose defense attorney tried to present her as a victim of domestic violence.
Johnson said they fought for the gun. When she grabbed the weapon off the ground, it accidentally fired, she said.
“I was not trying to kill Marcus. I would never try to hurt him,” she said, weeping. “He always hit me.”
The jury deliberated for more than a day before finding her guilty. When the verdict was read, Johnson shook, then slid under the table where she was seated with her attorneys. Paramedics wheeled Johnson out on a gurney as court proceedings continued.
The sentencing, though less dramatic, had its share of theatrics. After it concluded, Johnson’s mother yelled, “I love you, Tomiekia!” The outburst led to an argument between members of Johnson’s and Lemons’ families. angel.jennings@latimes.com