Judge Richard Skelton wrote in the verdict the state “failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all the essential elements” of the charges. He ordered Johnson to be immediately released from custody.
“This defendant, TyeJuan Johnson, was a juvenile at the time of the shooting death of the victim, Anthony Render,” read a statement from the prosecution. “Johnson was accused of providing the firearm used by co-defendant Chandler Brown in the fatal shooting. After a trial, Judge Richard Skelton found the defendant not guilty.”
Johnson’s defense attorney Clyde Bennett II said in a statement, “We were very pleased with the outcome of the case. Young Mr. Johnson maintained his innocence and had the strength and courage to risk his life in prison for his freedom. As a matter of law and fact, Mr. Johnson was not an accomplice to the murder of Anthony Render and should not have been charged in this case. The verdict was just in that it was based on the law and the evidence adduced at trial.”
Johnson was one of two people charged in an incident where a man was found shot and unresponsive in a crashed vehicle in Dayton last March. Medics transported 47-year-old Anthony Render of Dayton to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to Dayton police. Render died from injuries two days later, on March 28.
Chandler Lamar Brown, 19, is scheduled to go to trial on April 17 for two counts of murder (proximate result) and felonious assault and one count each of discharge of a firearm on prohibited premises and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle.
Brown’s defense declined to comment at this time.
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