A Fayetteville man, who was found guilty of murdering a man in Cove City in 2017, appealed his conviction, saying state prosecutors allegedly removed jury members based on their race.
EDITOR S NOTE: This story has been updated.
A cold-hearted felon who waved his gun at women’s heads and shot the man who tried to thwart his robbery dead? Or an innocent (or at least not provably guilty) young man who was framed and never there? The jury chose the former and found Johnson guilty of murdering Scottie Morton, as well as attempted robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon. He will spend the rest of his life in prison without hope of parole.
Those were the pictures painted of Anthony Johnson by prosecution and defense attorneys Friday after the prosecution rested their case and Defense Attorney Don Stroud offered no additional witnesses.
Sun Journal
State prosecutors continued presenting their case against Fayetteville native Anthony Lamar Johnson on Thursday by bringing into evidence several phone calls and letters they say Johnson made to his associates days after his arrest in the 2017 murder of Scottie Morton.
Craven County Assistant DA s Karen Hobbs and Matt Wareham called upon Special Agent Bradley Jenkins with the North Carolina Department of Insurance Criminal Investigative Division for his testimony. Jenkins portrayed his side of events when law enforcement responded to a 9-1-1 call at Grady s Old Country Store in Cove City on Aug. 3, 2017 and found Morton shot in an unsuccessful armed robbery.