Defense says police arrested wrong man in fatal 2011 shooting
By Nick Sabo
August 6, 2012
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At least two shots were fired in the early morning hours Dec. 10, 2011 when a 21-year-old Wooster man was killed - but whether the fatal bullet was fired by Lashaun Reed will be decided in a three-day jury trial.
Reed, 23, of 716 Quinby Ave., Apt. D, Wooster, is charged in Wayne County Common Pleas Court with aggravated murder and murder in the death of Clifford Johnson, 21, Wooster. At the start of a jury trial Monday, August 6, Reeds attorney, John Johnson Jr., contended that it was Reeds half brother, Ashon Palmer, who fatally shot Clifford Johnson.
John Johnson said that it was Ashon that Clifford named when he told several witnesses that he had been shot by someone named Shaun.
In his opening statements to the jury, John Johnson said that Clifford Johnson and Palmer had a heated exchange face-to-face at a Wooster residence shortly before the shooting. John Johnson also said that it was Palmer who told police where to find the handgun used in the shooting.
Clifford Johnson was shot in a confrontation in front of an East North Street residence in Wooster at approximately 4:21 a.m. Dec. 10, 2011. According to testimony Monday, he was standing outside with a friend, Mike Thomas, and Samantha Ralston, when Reed and Palmer approached him.
In opening statements, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Williams said that Reed shot Clifford Johnson once in the back. The bullet entered Clifford Johnsons right upper back and exited through his lower abdomen.
Clifford Johnson died later from his wounds at Wooster Community Hospital. While at the hospital, medical personnel found a small bag of crack cocaine hidden behind Cliffords genitals. A second bag of cocaine fell out of Clifford Johnsons pants at the hospital, Wooster Police Patrolman Brandon Heim said.
Ralston testified Monday that Reed approached Clifford Johnson and asked him if he was Gucci, Johnsons nickname, and asked Thomas if he went by the nickname of Fresh. Reed then produced a handgun and he and Clifford Johnson fought. A shot was fired, and both men fell to the ground.
Ralston said she ran back to the house at the first shot and heard another shot as soon as she went through the door. She then ran into a bedroom with several friends who were inside the residence at the time.
The next time she saw Clifford Johnson, Ralston testified, he was coming through the door. She said Clifford Johnson said just that Shaun shot him at least twice. Erica Lunsford, who was also inside the residence, testified she heard Clifford name the shooter as Shaun.
Johnson collapsed on the floor and began complaining of shortness of breath. Heim testified that Clifford Johnson was lying face-down in the living room when he arrived on-scene. Heim said someone in the house was pressing a towel against Clifford Johnsons back, and he took over holding the towel. Heim asked Johnson several times who had shot him, and Clifford Johnson answered once that it was Shaun, Heim said.
Prior to the shooting, Reed had called Palmer Dec. 10, 2011 while Palmer was in Orrville with several friends, including Lunsford and Ralston. Ralston said she overheard Palmer telling someone on his cell phone to be calm. Palmer asked her if she knew who Gucci was.
On the return trip to Wooster, Palmer got out at the corner of Spink and Bowman streets, Ralston said. The next time she saw Palmer, Ralston said, it was when he and Reed approached Clifford Johnson at the East North Street residence.
Palmer took the witness stand Monday and appeared to be reluctant to answer questions. Under direct examination by Williams about an assault rifle owned by Palmer, Palmer invoked the fifth amendment and refused to answer further questions.
Judge Corey Spitler stopped the trial so that Palmer could confer with Public Defender Bev Wire. Palmer asked that he be granted immunity from incriminating himself should his testimony show him as having complicity in the shooting. He further asked that he be granted immunity from possessing the assault rifle while under a court order that made it illegal for him to have weapons. Both requests were granted by Spitler.
The case is expected to continue today with Palmers testimony.
Clifford Johnson was one of several men who had moved from Detroit to Wooster who were known as the Detroit Boys or D Boys. Several of the Detroit Boys used nicknames.
Aggravated murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
