A Springfield father and son will both serve time in prison for their roles in a failed burglary caper that led to a fatal shooting in 2020.
Rick Johnson Jr., 30, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder, and other felony drugs and weapons charges. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
His dad, Rick Johnson Sr., 51, entered an Alford plea to second-degree murder in the summer of 2022 and is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence.
The person who died — Joshua Woods — was shot by someone whose apartment Woods and the Johnsons attempted to burglarize.
According to Missouri law, a person is guilty of second-degree murder if he or she commits or attempts to commit a felony, and while doing so, another person is killed as a result of the perpetration of the felony.
According to court documents, they thought the occupants of the apartment had stolen drugs and money from the elder Johnson.
The trio went to the wrong apartment.
The mother of the person who shot Woods spoke at the sentencing hearing this week. She said her son initially believed the men knocking on his door that night needed help.
“Before June 17, 2020, we didn’t know these people. We had never seen them before,” Jenny Tsotigh said with emotion. “We will never view people the same. My son will never view people the same.
“We’ve lived in Springfield a while. Our city is sick. It’s been taken over by meth-fueled craziness,” she said. “We now live in a city where you do all the right things — you get a job and go to work … and it will still come to your front door.”
She then turned her attention to Rick Johnson Jr., who was seated nearby at the defense table.
“This morning I prayed for my son, and I prayed for Rick Johnson,” Tsotigh said. “You’ll get out. And my hope and prayer for you is that you become a driving force against meth.”
What led to the shooting?
According to court documents, the elder Johnson believed someone stole several thousand dollars in cash and narcotics from his room at a north Springfield motel, so he called several people to help him locate and scare the people he believed stole the money and drugs.
Among the people he called were Rick Johnson Jr. and Joshua Woods, the documents indicate.
Rick Johnson Jr., Rick Johnson Sr. and Woods then drove Woods’ pickup to the Golden Pond Apartments in southwest Springfield, according to the documents.
Rick Johnson Jr. and Woods got out of the truck, brandished guns and knocked on the door. A few moments later, both Woods and the younger Johnson were shot.
Rick Johnson Jr.’s injuries were not life-threatening. He would later admit to investigators that he knocked on the door and was shot, but claimed he did not know why he was at the apartment, according to court documents.
Brother of dead man: ‘Fifteen years is not enough’
After the occupant of the apartment fired his gun at the intruders, someone else in the apartment called police to report the shooting. The caller said that men with guns came to their apartment and tried to force their way inside. The caller, who was not named in the documents, said an occupant of the apartment shot at the men and then the intruders left the apartment complex in a gold GMC pickup truck.
When officers arrived, they located a man with a gunshot wound at the scene near the intersection of Golden Avenue and Republic Road. That man, later identified as Woods, had gunshot wounds to his chest and back. Woods was transported to a Springfield hospital where he died.
Court documents say the two Johnsons left the injured Woods behind and fled in his truck.
Woods’ brother, James Woods, spoke at the sentencing hearing Wednesday.
“The acts of the defendant have left a lasting impact on me and my family,” James Woods said. “Fifteen years is not enough.”
Occupants of apartment were watching movie
Following the shooting, police officers took the three occupants of the apartment to a police station and interviewed them. The three told investigators they were watching a movie when someone knocked on the front door. One of the occupants opened the door and spoke to a man standing outside the door.
The man at the door said he was looking for someone and gave a specific name. The occupant told the man “he had the wrong apartment,” according to court documents.
A little later, the occupants heard a louder knock on the door. One of the occupants picked up his handgun, went to the door, looked through the peephole and saw two men standing outside.
As the occupant started to open the door, the two men began trying to force it open. According to the documents, the person who answered the door saw that one of the men was holding an AR-15-style gun and pointing the barrel of the gun into the apartment.
The occupant pointed his handgun toward the man holding the rifle and fired two rounds. Then the two men — Rick Johnson Jr. and Joshua Woods — stopped trying to enter the apartment and ran away. The occupants locked the door and hid in their apartment until police officers arrived.
Woods’ gold GMC truck was later found at the 3800 block of South Ridgeline Avenue. Greene County deputies found Rick Johnson Sr. walking nearby with the keys to Woods’ truck.
When interviewed by police, Johnson Sr. denied involvement in the shooting incident and said he didn’t know how he was in possession of the keys. He said he blacked out and didn’t remember anything from that night.
