A New Orleans father was arrested Friday for allegedly killing a young man accused of murdering his son.
Bokio Johnson, 46, was arrested after Hollis Carter, 21, was found dead and his mother critically injured on their way to a pretrial hearing Wednesday morning in the young man’s murder case, The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate reported. The police did not initially identify the victims, but John Fuller, Carter’s defense attorney, confirmed that his client was killed.
Carter, who was out on bond, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder for a 2021 shooting that left 18-year-old Caleb Johnson and his 25-year-old stepsister, Breyiana Brown, dead.
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Police said Carter confessed to the murders, but Fuller claimed his client made a false admission because he was afraid of the actual killer, CBS New Orleans reported.
Fuller said he thought Carter’s brutal shooting was related to the two deaths.
“Street justice has resulted in an assurance that there would never be any closure in this case,” Fuller said, according to The Advocate.
In Caleb Johnson’s obituary—which says the teen planned to enlist in the U.S. Navy—Bokio Johnson is listed as his father.
While Carter and his mother were waiting at a stoplight Wednesday morning, a black truck pulled up next to them and fired gunshots in their direction, police said, according to The Advocate.
“When they heard it, everybody turned and they saw a gentleman standing out with his rifle pointing in the car,” Pastor Mike Smith, of Bethel Baptist Community Church, told WVUE.
“[The mother] was hurt, she couldn’t feel her legs, and they called the police. She kept saying, my baby, he’s in the car, is he ok? They didn’t tell her that he was deceased, they just sent her to the hospital,” Smith explained.
Police released a statement saying they responded to a report of shots being fired Wednesday. When they arrived at the scene, officers found a woman lying on the ground outside of a vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds. Carter was discovered inside the vehicle with a bullet to the head.
Johnson was arrested on one count of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder, police said.
Neither New Orleans police nor Carter’s attorney could be immediately reached for comment.
