CenLAw

Senseless Shooting at the Suga Shak - The Jordan Johnson Case

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Witness the role of advanced GPS tracking & Project NOLA in crime-solving. #TrueCrime #Podcast

Here's a chilling tale of a single moment that turned a festive evening at a local nightclub into an unthinkable nightmare. Imagine, a Christmas party in Jonesville, Louisiana, filled with laughter, music, and joy, suddenly shattering into dread and confusion with the senseless murder of a young man, DaJohn LaMichael Mitchell. We navigate the complexities of this tragic incident, taking you from a seemingly innocent bump on the dance floor to the unraveling of a terrifying crime.

We venture into the heart of the investigation, following the trail of a local rapper and purported member of a Mississippi gang, identified through a detailed examination of social media and advanced GPS tracking technologies. We also delve into the important role of Project NOLA, a pioneering HD crime camera system in the US, that substantially aided the case. We remember DeJohn, a loving father, son, and friend, whose dreams were prematurely ended. This episode is a poignant dissection of a terrifying incident and a touching tribute to a life tragically extinguished. Join us for this compelling narrative, a stark reminder of the fragility of life and the senselessness of violence.

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Kellye:

Around 1 am on December 15th 2018, police got a call about shots being fired ina local nightclub in Jonesville, louisiana, and, upon arriving at the scene, found one 23-year-old male dead on the floor and another 23-year-old male in the wind. Come with us into the story of a senseless crime for a senseless reason and the use of an amazing nonprofit program to finally find and arrest the suspect on this episode of Sin Law. Hello and welcome to this episode of Sin Law. I'm Kelly and I'm Kyler, and have I got a story for you today, although this one didn't take long to solve, as in terms of who did it or catching the suspect, it also wasn't really hard to figure out why. But the reason why is so incredibly vain that it's hard to believe that this crime occurred at all. Are you ready for this? Probably not.

Kyler:

Okay, I'm done, but I know you're not.

Kellye:

Alright. So on December 15th in 2018, DaJohn LaMichael Mitchell of Clayton, Louisiana, which is just north of Faraday, along with some of his friends, they decided to go to a Christmas party at the Sugar Shack in Jonesville. Sugar Shack. And it's spelled S-U-G-A-S-H-A-K.

Kyler:

I know you're just trying to pronounce it too hard.

Kellye:

I am, because I'm .

Kyler:

It's just a Sugar Shack.

Kellye:

I enunciate. So they were going to this party and this party was reported to have it had been advertised as having an awesome DJ as well as a well-known rapper from the area, and that made everybody that much more excited for this event. It was also put out on social media that there were gonna be drinks and it was just gonna be an all-around good party. What'd you say?

Kyler:

Nothing, I was just singing the song wrong.

Kellye:

Not unusual. DaJohn and and some of his friends went ahead and cruised over to the Sugar Shack that was in Jonesville to attend. Thank you, I'm doing my best to attend this party and, according to friends of witnesses, as soon as DaJohn got there, I could have done better in enunciating that DaJohn, it's D-A-Apostrophe John. Oh, yeah, okay, so I'm having to de-juh, de-juh.

Kyler:

Yeah, I know, I thought you were doing a D-E and just pronouncing it de-uh, like a lot of the white people's do.

Kellye:

Well, I'm the whitest of white people.

Kellye:

I know that's why I thought that Okay so according to friends of witnesses, as soon as Dejon got on the scene, he started enjoying himself as one would. He was drinking, listening to music. Some even say that he was actually in the DJ booth playing the music the usual and before long people started getting more tipsy and starting started dancing and, you know, getting into it. Now this party, like I mentioned earlier, was going to have a rapper there and this rapper was known by the name Youngin Gunnen. His real name was Jordan Johnson and he had hyped up this event on his social media I believe it was like Instagram and Facebook and had done a lot of videos like John Swills, gonna Be Hoppin' and all of this.

Kyler:

We're gonna get it hoppin' up in here. We're gonna get it hoppin'.

Kellye:

So Youngin Gunnen and his crew were there and he was performing throughout the night and he had actually hired and paid a promoter to film his performance and interactions at the. Everybody called it a nightclub, it's literally just a shack, but at the sugar shack that evening. And so while he was there and doing his performance and just hanging out, the filmer was following them around and it came to pass that Youngin Gunnen and to John ended up crossing paths later that evening and because Dejon had been drinking and was just dancing and feeling himself, he saw the camera and he made his way to be able to get over it in front of the camera and to get into the frame. He was dancing, like I said, having a good time, and eventually he kind of bumps into one of yeah, and it's hard to tell from the video and the reason.

Kellye:

And the video that I'm mentioning I actually saw on a segment of a show on investigation discovery. It's called Real Time Crime and it was season one, episode four, tailgate Terror Slash Wrapsheet, and the part of the episode is the second part, the Wrapsheet part that covers this story, and they have multiple videos from that night that were from different cell phones, as well as the promoter video and so if you want to check that out, that's a really good resource. Just see those. If you want to check out those videos, you can see on these videos that he's obviously having a good time maybe a little rambunctious, but otherwise just good fun. He dances in front of the camera frame and you can actually see him bump into someone and then just kind of roll off and keep dancing and as one would do at the club.

Kellye:

Right, yeah, you're just you know you're dancing, having a good time, you bump into somebody. You know big deal. You just keep doing what you're doing.

Kyler:

Everybody's having a good time. Exactly, hit me on the shoulder, that's fine, just don't step on my shoes.

Kellye:

And that's a big deal for women and for men when they go to the club. You don't step on my shoes, don't spill any kind of drink on my shirt or my dress.

Kyler:

Yeah, I'm gonna talk about that.

Kellye:

Well, some people do, especially if they're wearing silk.

Kyler:

You know what I mean. If silk is one thing, white is another thing, yeah, but like any other instance, I really don't care.

Kellye:

Okay so, and that's understandable, as most humans would, that's how we would react. Just keep on vibing, having a good time.

Kyler:

Now you do it on purpose. That's another story.

Kellye:

Absolutely, absolutely agree. And you can see again Dejon still trying to keep himself in front of the camera, just kind of goofing off, and he bumps into a person again, but instead of you know, a normal human reaction of you know either stepping out of the way or just kind of moving around, moving on, this time the dude who bumped into comes out swinging. And what happens when you have a small area with people drinking and dancing and then a punch gets thrown?

Kyler:

A lot of punches get thrown A lot of punches get thrown exactly. You can turn a rap concert into a heavy metal concert in just one snap.

Kellye:

Yep, go from zero to To mosh pit To mosh pit in.3 seconds, flat right. So the only difference in this story is that someone brings out a gun in a fist fight. According to court records, dejon was shot at least five times, possibly six, most on the back lip, most side of his body. And according what do you mean? Possibly, because there's I'll explain this more later but there's one that they don't know for sure. If it was just shrapnel from another bullet, okay, he was shot at least five times, possibly six, with a 380 pistol, the opp Mm-hmm. Yeah, the autopsy noted that some of the wounds could have been caused by fragments from the other bullet or another gunshot itself, but it was unable to be definitively determined. And all shots were noted to have a trajectory of back to front, meaning that all five times and possibly six, he was shot in the back. Of course. Once the shot shots rang out, everyone scatters and runs out of the building.

Kellye:

Oh yeah like turning on a light switch and all of the cockroaches with the light. There you go.

Kyler:

Didn't we determine recently that 380 was the same as a 9?

Kellye:

millimeter. They can be used in the same weapons. Yes, the friends that had come to this party with the John soon realized that he had not exited the building with them and I believe it was his cousin, who I think is also on the ID episode. He ran back to see where he was and saw him laying on the floor quote unconscious and unmoving, I'm quote. When the police arrive on the scene, they find a group of party growers outside huddled around in different groups, and then, upon entering the sugar shack, they found Dejon lying face down with a gunshot wounds and they also found spent casings of the Winchester brand 380 caliber. But otherwise they didn't find Any other leads, there was just the, the bullet casings.

Kellye:

Hmm, to make this whole thing a little bit more heart-wrenching, dejon's father was a lieutenant with the Concordia Paris Sheriff's Office at the time and he heard about the shooting and took his Patrol car, running lights and sirens, to the scene, only to find out that his firstborn son had been shot to death In the ID episode. It just hit so hard and your heart breaks for him, and in more than one way throughout the episode. But I'm not gonna say any more about that. If you want to see it. Go watch it.

Kyler:

Real-time crime episode for season one Hmm now said you know that offhand that's not many notes folks.

Kellye:

So now, while talking to an interviewing witnesses, it was tough going because, despite the crowd of potential witnesses, most people did not want to get involved and Many more claimed they saw nothing.

Kyler:

Absolutely. Somebody just got shot for bumping into somebody.

Kellye:

You say something about him, you gonna get shot too and even more so, this was due well, the invest investigators believed in part to the fact that the rapper and his crew were purportedly Involved with a part of a Mississippi gang known as 500 Navy, or 500 Navy babies.

Kyler:

I'm not sure. Yes, the 500 Street, god damn it.

Kellye:

It's, it's weird 500 Navy Babies Street gang. Is that what we figured out? Okay?

Kyler:

I just I keep wanting to say 500 Street or 500 Navy. Street Street.

Kellye:

Yeah, so those are wrong anyway, so that they think that that was part of the reason why nobody wanted to talk. They were scared of retaliation and eventually, what witnesses they did get to talk mostly requested that their names not be used and they didn't testify at the trial. However, they did Eventually get some identifying descriptions of the clothes he was wearing and Apparently he had on a bright red NASA shirts. It was like a bright red shirt with NASA and big letters across the front and some jogging or wind pants that had two red stripes down the side of the pants and this person had been spotted with a gun and the name of the rapper, young and done in Jordan Johnson.

Kyler:

Apparently, their entire group was dressed in red. I believe it, especially if they were considered to be part of that game, which would make sense, which is interesting to me, because I would have assumed that the 500 Navy baby gang would have been associated with the Crips seeing as I'm a baby right is in is a hue of blue right, it didn't make any sense to me there. All I can think is that there it's a it's to do with the bee, the Navy baby for the blood.

Kellye:

Yeah, maybe I'm not sure. I don't know how gangs work. I've never been in.

Kellye:

Well, you essentially can't say Right, right, right, that would make sense.

Kellye:

Again, I don't know how many of that works, but that makes sense.

Kellye:

So they get the name of him being Jordan Johnson, who was supposed to perform, and that he arrived with his entourage that were all dressed in red, according to the news reports, and the officers quickly get in a restaurant for him as a prime suspect in the shooting and begin the search for his location.

Kellye:

While doing this, the Cata Jula Parish Sheriff's Office, which was the main sheriff's office that was handling the case, was talking to another entity that works out of Baton Rouge, louisiana, called Project NOLA. Project NOLA is a nonprofit organization that we're going to talk more in detail about here in just a second, but they basically use live camera feeds from all over to be able to help locate wanted suspects, among other things, and the sheriff's office, using social media and Jordan Johnson's own photos posted, they were able to get the make and model of the vehicle they had been in, as well as a license plate number, and, using that, the license plate readers on the Natchez-Fidelia Bridge that crosses the Mississippi River, they were able to see that that car with those plates had crossed the Mississippi River and about the same time. They actually got a phone call from the Merritt Hospital in Natchez. I believe that had another shooting victim.

Kyler:

Yeah, it was Crescian Malone, it just says at A Natchez Hospital had sought treatment there because he had also been shot in the in the altercation and he had told personnel there that he was shot in Jonesville.

Kellye:

His wounds were non-life threatening. I think he just got shot in the leg. I think it did.

Kyler:

It doesn't say, but it doesn't say that they were anything serious.

Kellye:

I think it was in a different news article, but yeah, so there was a couple different leads that told the officers at that point the information that they got from the license plate readers and from the witness at the hospital that Jordan Johnson was likely in Natchez. The investigators knew that they would not have to involve Adams County in the search for Jordan Johnson and upon contacting that police force, they realized that he had currently, or Jordan Johnson was currently, on probation and parole for a 2014 incident where he pled guilty to three counts of aggravated assault.

Kyler:

Because he took out a gun and shot into a full vehicle.

Kellye:

At least three people. At least three people got injured out of that incident. There were three or more in the vehicle, but three of them were actually shot, and at that point he was actually only.

Kyler:

One bullet wounded three people and he was only 18 when that happened, in 2014.

Kellye:

I thought it was 14,. Yeah, that makes sense.

Kyler:

He said it was sentenced to 10 years. Five years suspended.

Kellye:

But he had literally just got out on probation in a couple months before.

Kyler:

And 2018 in June, six months before this incident in December.

Kellye:

So, knowing that, knowing that he was on probation, they went ahead and contacted his parole officer and got Jordan's cell phone number, which they then used to pinpoint his location using the GPS tracking on his phone, and they relayed this information back to Project NOLA. So they actually were able to ping his phone and it just so happened that Project NOLA had access to the cameras covering the entirety of the complex where his location was showing at the holiday apartments and matches.

Kyler:

Now, Sorry, it's okay, it's a way backtrack, but I thought I'd read this and I just couldn't remember where it was. This one says that this happened while he was performing.

Kellye:

I don't know that that's.

Kyler:

Because on the back it says that it who allegedly bumped into him and then a fight broke out, right, but like it just says, that a rapper who, while performing, shot Mitchell and then stood over him and shot him some more.

Kellye:

Yeah.

Kyler:

Maybe, it just means that during his yeah, during his stay there at the venue while he was performing Right. Yeah, I think that's more of a generalized. That's it. I remember reading it the other day and it just struck me as damn no. In the middle of a song he just pulls out a gun.

Kellye:

No, and you can see on the video that it wasn't a quote unquote performance the promoter or filming the guy who was filming everything. You could tell by the situation in the videos that he wasn't on stage or it wasn't like a shot of him doing rapping. I don't even think I saw a mic or anything on those videos.

Kyler:

I could be wrong, but it's a sugar shack and it's only so big, exactly, you don't really need a stage or a mic or a.

Kellye:

Well, I mean at least like a circle around them or something you would think. I don't know how these things work.

Kyler:

If there's going to be a circle, then the people rapping are still in the circle, because it is a back and forth Look look, the only thing I know about rapping underground is like eight miles, so don't Just don't, don't be judgey.

Kellye:

So when Project NOLA monitored the live streams which is another part of what they can do here they happened upon the vehicle that matched the description and it came into the frame and they watched as people exited the car and all of this was live, and they watched them as they went into an apartment. So they knew from the video that they were watching, they could see the vehicle, they could see them exit and they knew exactly which apartment they went to. And they relayed this information back to Adams County and Cato Hula Parish and Concordia.

Kyler:

Parish.

Kellye:

Adams County is the county right across the bridge in Mississippi.

Kyler:

Okay, I just know that there was the PSO, I'm not sure which.

Kellye:

Well, at this point, they had multiple agencies. They had Adams County, they had Concordia Parish, they had Cato Hula Parish, because they everything, the Pee just stand for fucking Parish.

Kyler:

Yes God damn it, yeah. So I thought that was gonna be some specific.

Kellye:

No, Damn them. Well, after they figured out which apartment that he was in, or what the suspected alleged apartment, they then focused their attention on watching who came and went out of this place, and after watching for a while, they were actually to visually confirm that Jordan Johnson was indeed one of the people in this apartment. So then things upgrade to warp speed. Everybody's moving, everybody's getting everything mobilized. They get the special task force team, they get Adams County SWAT, they get ready to roll on this location and, as they're on their way, the sergeant If you know anything about cops, when they're ready, they're ready.

Kyler:

Right, they may take a little while to get ready, but when they're ready, they ain't no stopping them.

Kellye:

And as they're on their way, the sergeant of the SWAT team is watching the feed live on his phone outside of this apartment building.

Kyler:

That's fancy.

Kellye:

And that is all thanks to Project NOLA. Project NOLA is the one who has access and they can straight send it to the police force their phone, so they can actually watch the live feed as they're on their way to go do this arrest.

Kyler:

Well, is it that they send it to them, or is it that the police force has rented out or has bought these cameras, or the use of these cameras for however long, and that they're able to use it because they have it?

Kellye:

That I can't answer for sure. But what I know about the Project NOLA itself is I know that for public and privacy they only keep recordings for so long and they only allow police forces to use them once they request it Right, right, right.

Kyler:

So police may be able to buy their cameras for their own purpose For their monitoring. Yes, For their own personal use, but only specific cameras.

Kellye:

Only specific cameras at times, and if Project NOLA has access to all of them, that's exactly correct.

Kyler:

Okay, got it.

Kellye:

Because they don't want the public's rights and friends drawn but at the same time the monitoring system is always there if they need it.

Kellye:

Yes, absolutely. They're trying to watch and make sure that there aren't any children around, because this is an apartment complex, so they're trying to pay attention to the surrounding areas and they actually notice. As they're on their way, they see Jordan Johnson and a male accomplice coming out of the apartment and getting into the car. However, he doesn't make it. However, thomas Bays, thomas Bays. However, he doesn't even make it off of the same street that the apartment's on before they arrive.

Kyler:

And that's the benefit or the drawback of having live camera for you. That's exactly right.

Kellye:

And I mean, there wouldn't have been much they could do about it otherwise. But if you had got off the street they would have been able to at least see which direction he went. But that didn't matter, because they got there, they arrested him and took him into custody without incidents, and what you're talking about.

Kyler:

Well, I mean Honestly, I mean like, granted, what's he gonna do? But still there's enough of them that'll try just about anything. So it's just good for the police force, Absolutely. It's so much safer for the community and everybody.

Kellye:

yeah, and it's nice when that happens. It's not always the case, but it is nice just for the safety of our officers and for the safety of the people involved.

Kyler:

He may be a murderer but Absolutely, with the safe I mean screw him, and it's far safer for the community as a whole. Absolutely, it's just. I was gratified to hear that.

Kellye:

No incidents or resistance.

Kyler:

A suspected or alleged gang member and known, Known violent, known to have a temper, didn't have any delusions, not delusions of fighting it out with the police and either winning or dying Right. So they put how many times do you win?

Kellye:

Right? Well, because you can. Only, there's only the two options to be the winner.

Kyler:

Yeah, but how many times have you heard about them? Well, I mean, you wouldn't hear about them anyways. They would stress the hell out of that, probably.

Kellye:

Anyway. So they got him into custody no incident, no resistance, and that was on December 15th at 1240. So from the time they got the call to the time he was arrested, it was about 10 hours because he was arrested at 1240 on December 15th. So he was taken to the Cato Hula Parish Jail where he was booked on one count of second degree murder in a felon in possession of a firearm and he was held without bond until his trial. From the time of his arrest, jordan Johnson refused to talk and insisted he was innocent throughout his trial, but he was eventually found guilty on both second degree murder and possession of a firearm. In 2021. He was sentenced to life plus 20 years for the firearm charge.

Kyler:

Incidentally, when he was, the jury made its verdict on December 16th of 2021, so just a day later, three years later.

Kellye:

Three years in a day, yeah, and at this point in time I know he's still incarcerated and going through his appeal process and has some court date scheduled for that pending this year. But as it stands he is still in jail and will be pending an appellate win at some point in the future, but there's no way of knowing for sure which way that'll go, so unless he's got some kind of substantial evidence, otherwise, I'm pretty sure most of the time with any kind of appeal they stick with what the jury decides, because that's what they're for.

Kyler:

So yeah, yeah, unless Project Innocence comes in and starts hoping, or something. I highly highly doubt that one, I do as well. But you know they've taken on some things that a lot of people have highly, highly doubted.

Kellye:

I mean, you never know, and they'd kick the ass and all people are found, you know, but I mean, he's already been found guilty, so we don't even need to say that. And on a more serious note, I just want to take a moment to remember the victim here, as they so often get lost in these retelling of what is really their stories. And according to an article written by the Cinema Hallick, who wrote an article just after the release of the investigation discovery show I mentioned, dejan was described as kindhearted and down to earth who loved enjoying life and going out with his friends. He was going to be quite helpful and had no trouble making friends and had big plans for his future, I think. In the episode his father said he wanted to one day play in the NBA, but according to a couple different places, football was his passion and in high school he received all district in both football and basketball and he also ran track.

Kyler:

Yeah.

Kellye:

Yeah, he also left behind a son, aiden, who was four at the time His daddy was taken from him, an entire family and multitudinous friends that love him and miss him dearly. He was only 23 years old at the time of his senseless murder. That should have never, never happened, not over something as frivolous as bumping into someone or even to shump Like are you kidding?

Kyler:

This article said that it may not have even been Johnson that actually bumped into him.

Kellye:

It was a member of his crew or whatever that bumped into it, something so ridiculous.

Kyler:

To John who was dancing, allegedly bumped into Johnson or a member of his hunderage, that Johnson took offense.

Kellye:

Yeah, and like what.

Kyler:

What? And then Johnson pushed Mitchell. Fight broke out and at some point Johnson pulled out his 380 and shot him in the back when he dropped to the floor, and he shot him four more times in the back. And I believe in ridiculous In the court records.

Kellye:

the autopsy stated something about the trajectories and there were there were seven casings found. Well, I mean, I'm just the wounds themselves. The trajectories of the wounds prove that he was on the floor and oh yeah.

Kyler:

And that's what everything I've read says as well. It's crazy he shot him once to knock him down, and four more times at least.

Kellye:

And not, and for me this episode, I don't really have a lot of personal opinion other than you know like what the biggest part of this case and the interest for me in this case was. I was completely and hopelessly fascinated by Project NOLA and what they did in this case and the technology that they use and have in place currently and what that means for law enforcement all over the country, not just Louisiana. It's just astounding. And just to give a little bit more in detail information about Project NOLA, it is a nonprofit organization that operates the largest, most cost efficient, successful networked HD crime camera program in America.

Kyler:

And Actually on on that for reference, the cameras that project no la is using, their resolution is a 32 I'm assuming frames per second, but I don't. I don't recall what it said after 32, but the pole cameras that police used to use, that the most a lot of cities still use is to yeah, so that's, that's a lot.

Kellye:

Yeah, my goodness.

Kyler:

It's a 16-fold difference. Yeah, that's impressive and that's just in resolution. The cost efficiency is really is absolutely ridiculous, it's it they have so many more perks and like things that come out of it not necessarily the A lot of the things that their cameras can do, or things that the pole cameras can also do, but they can do it for considerably cheaper and in better quality and they're so. They can be more widespread and have more coverage because they are less costly.

Kellye:

Oh yeah, and they can go via the internet and transmit video.

Kyler:

Yeah, real time and that's one of the coolest things, both the real time and the fact that the pole cameras. There's no way to to watch the feed through a, through a mobile phone, right you can't on the project. No la cameras. You can watch it over over an app on your phone right, and you can think is really cool re -broadcast them to local law enforcement immediately.

Kellye:

It's all real time, which is really impressive, and that Um Series that I was talking about on investigation discovery is all of those I believe all of those episodes are based off of. That's why the series is called real-time crime, because the project no la real-time crime information Center at the University of New Orleans is where all of this takes place and it was created in 2009 by criminologist Brian Lagarde. And if you want or if you're curious to know more information about project no la and their role in communities everywhere, you can go to project no la dot org and we'll have that link listed in our show notes and links to the other sources Used in researching this case and that this is not the only case that we are going to talk about on the on this sin law.

Kyler:

That Happens to be also a case, haven't, oh Jesus? That happens to also be a case that was picked up by or helped with. Help, helped with by.

Kellye:

That the case was solved in part by the help of the project no la. Okay, okay, and he's absolutely right, because there are many cases that I've come across and researching others that have had Project no la influence when one way or the other, whether it be license plate recognition or facial recognition, which is another part of what they do. They also have a really, really cool Gunshot detection system and, like I said there's they've got all the information on their website, you guys, to check it out. It's really amazing. Oh, you're not even gonna give them a couple of the details, I'm not.

Kellye:

I'm not because we have another episode that we're gonna use it so, if they say something, go listen to our other episodes, oh.

Kyler:

Trying to hook y'all.

Kellye:

And I just want to say thank you for listening. If you like the show, leave us a review on Apple podcast or whichever Pogform you're listening on, and if you have any questions or just want to let us know what you think, send us an email at Sendlaw podcast at gmailcom, which will also be listed in the show notes below. See you next week see you next week or the week after every two weeks. I'll see you when I see. Whatever it is, take care out there, you'll be back, you'll be back.

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