Judge Herbert Dixon sentenced Terry Johnson Wednesday to 23 and a half years in prison in connection with the shooting death of 19-year-old Andre Jamal Wiggins.
A jury convicted Johnson of second-degree murder and related weapons offenses in connection with the case in March.
Prosecutors argued that the months-long feud between Johnson and Wiggins centered around them dating the same woman, and culminated with Johnson fatally shooting Wiggins on October 26, 2011.
Several witnesses testified at trial that they knew that Wiggins and Johnson were “beefing” over the woman and had seen each of them driving the woman’s silver Infiniti truck.
According to grand jury testimony, Johnson told his mother that he was responsible for the shooting. She was charged with evidence tampering in the case and was acquitted.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office is below.
DISTRICT MAN SENTENCED TO 23 ½ YEARS IN PRISON IN 2011 SLAYING IN NORTHEAST WASHINGTON -DEFENDANT WAITED FOR VICTIM, THEN SHOT HIM IN AN ALLEY IN BROAD DAYLIGHT-
WASHINGTON - Terry Johnson, 23, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 23 ½ years in prison on charges stemming from a slaying that took place in 2011 in Northeast Washington, U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. announced.
Johnson was found guilty by a jury in March 2013, following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, of second-degree murder while armed and related weapons charges. He was sentenced by the Honorable Herbert B. Dixon, Jr. Upon completion of his prison term, Johnson will be placed on five years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, the murder took place at about 11:45 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2011 in the 5200 block of Clay Street NE. Johnson had an ongoing feud with the victim, Andre Wiggins, 19, in which the two men on multiple occasions ambushed and fired gunshots at one another. The feud stemmed from Mr. Wiggins’s then current romantic relationship with Johnson’s ex-girlfriend.
On Oct. 26, 2011, Johnson was told that Mr. Wiggins followed one of
Johnson’s children and the mother of that child (not the woman at the
center of the feud) as they walked in the neighborhood. Johnson was
infuriated upon hearing this and promised to “take care of it.” Johnson went to Mr. Wiggins’s neighborhood, positioned himself in an alley, and waited for his arrival. Upon seeing Mr. Wiggins, Johnson who was armed and wearing a mask, ran him down, firing multiple times and leaving Mr. Wiggins dead in the street.During the trial, the government presented cell tower records, text
messages, and other evidence linking Johnson to the murder. Among other things, the defendant threatened a jailhouse witness while en route to court in the final days of trial.In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Machen praised those who
worked on the case, including detectives and officers from the
Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Unit and Sixth Police
District. He also expressed appreciation to the FBI Special Agent who
worked on the case as well as those who handled the case for the U.S.
Attorney’s Office, including Litigation Technology Specialists Leif
Hickling and Paul Howell; Victim Witness Security Specialist Katina
Adams; Victim Advocate Tamara Ince; Paralegal Specialists Kendra Johnson and Sandra Lane, and Investigator Durand Odom. Finally he acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reagan Taylor and Michelle Bradford, who prosecuted the case.
