The Tribune

By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net 

THE family of Valentino Johnson looked on as the inquest into the 46-year-old’s April 16, 2023, police-involved killing continued yesterday.

Police claimed Johnson was killed after leading them on a high-speed chase from Gladstone Road to Seven Hill Road.

Police claimed that an officer from the K-9 division found a firearm near the burgundy Nissan Cube Johnson was driving, which was found two days after the Crime Scene Unit initially inspected the crime scene and documented the evidence.

Detective Inspector Austin Bowles, who joined the Crime Scene Unit in 2014, testified that he saw empty bullet casings scattered across the road and bullet damage to vehicles and a house. However, police vehicles appeared to have taken no damage.

Inspector Bowles presented a crime scene album showing three groups of evidence markers representing three separate locations on Seven Hill Road where shots were fired during the police chase, resulting in Johnson being shot through the back by a single bullet.

The wounded Johnson reportedly lost control of his vehicle, drove through a residential yard, hit the back of a parked car and fence and crashed into a vacant home next door.

Inspector Bowles’ inspection — which took almost 3 hours — informed him that the vehicle sustained gunshot damage to the front windshield, right side, and rear.

Six black plastic wrappings of suspected marijuana in a white bucket and gas tank container were found in the backseat of the burgundy Nissan Cube. Inspector Bowles testified that a firearm was not found after he completed his initial investigation of the crash site.

In an earlier testimony, an inspector who was one of the first officers to examine the burgundy Nissan Cube said he did not find a firearm.

Fired bullets and metal jacket fragments were found at the crime scene, along with the other evidence.

Police Corporal 3890 Keron King, who joined the K9 Unit three years ago, testified on behalf of himself and his German Shorthaired Pointer canine partner ‘Tracker’.

He said that on April 18, 2023, while on duty, he brought Tracker to the crime scene, where he met several officers.

He said Tracker indicated via “stop and stare associated with digging” that he found a chrome Bersa Thunder 45 handgun loaded with four rounds of ammunition.

He said the firearm was covered in dirt.

Chief Court Marshall Angelo Whitfield pointed to the court monitor, which showed a photo of the crime scene. The area was fairly vegetated and had minimal to no dirt.

Mr King nonetheless maintained that Tracker found the firearm covered with dirt.

Mr Whitfield asked Mr King how Tracker usually indicates when he has found potential evidence. Mr King listed the indicators from most to least common: stop and stare, nose pointing before laying down or sitting, sit, bark, or scratch to indicate a narcotic or weapon.

Mr King acknowledged that the indicator Tracker used was not one the canine used often.

When asked if ex-cop Shando King was in the vicinity during the dog search, PC 3890 King confirmed this while listing officers Simmons, Thompson, and Ferguson as present.

Mr King did not go into specifics about the identities of the officers attached to the Crime Scene Unit who attended the scene on the day he was present.

WDC 3895 Takia Harvey, who was on duty with Mr Bowles on April 16th 2023, when the shooting happened, testified that she was not made aware of a chrome firearm, nor did she see a K9 Unit at the scene of the crime. However, she could not say if other officers searched the crime scene while she was there.