A 61-year-old man has been slapped with murder charges in the shooting death of a 55-year-old on a quiet residential street earlier this month, authorities said. Randy Anthony Barnes is accused of gunning down Willy Johnson outside a home at 6146 Glenhurst Drive on the evening of March 8, in what turned out to quickly become a deadly altercation. Officers arrived at the scene around 7:55 p.m. to find Johnson lying unresponsive in the driveway, a single bullet wound to his body. Despite the fast response from Houston Fire Department paramedics, Johnson was pronounced dead right there on the pavement.
As per the City of Houston news release, Barnes now faces a murder rap in the 339th State District Court, with his mugshot circulating in conjunction with the report.
Investigative efforts by the HPD Homicide Division, led by Sergeant W. Dunn and Detective M. Providence, enabled them to quickly identify Barnes as the prime suspect. HPD's Southeast Division Crime Suppression Team didn't hesitate to apprehend him on March 14, and he was formally charged soon after. "HPD patrol officers responded to a shooting call at the above address and found Mr. Johnson unresponsive in the driveway of a residence," stated Sergeant W. Dunn and Detective M. Providence in their report.
The circumstances of the shooting raise many questions, but Barnes' arrest may soon uncover the truth about what happened to Johnson, as the case progresses through the legal process.
