Man serving 30-year sentence for shooting NC cop released after convictions vacated
A Durham man recently released from a 30-year prison sentence for shooting a police officer during a burglary won’t be retried, according to court documents.
On June 1, Kevin Burnette Johnson was released from prison after his 2010 convictions were vacated during a hearing that raised questions about the investigation and trial. Johnson was scheduled to be released in 2033.
Johnson, 40, was convicted by a Durham jury of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, assault with a firearm on a law enforcement officer and second-degree burglary.
Johnson was granted the new trial after his attorney Christine Mumma, with the N.C. Center on Actual Innocence, filed a motion and successfully sought the June 1 hearing in which a judge agreed to vacate the charges.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Wallace said at the hearing he would decide in the near future whether he would retry Johnson on the charges. At the end of June, Wallace filed paperwork dismissing the charges against the Johnson.
The evidence against Johnson seemed strong on the surface, Wallace wrote in court documents, but serious issues were raised about the credibility of two key witnesses.
“In the interest of justice the State cannot in good conscience move forward with a re-prosecution of this case,” Wallace wrote. “The State is of the view that a dismissal of all charges is proper, fair and just.”
Mumma’s initial motion to have the charges vacated and dismissed centers on the truthfulness of witnesses testimony, as well as initial descriptions of the shooting suspect that didn’t match Johnson’s appearance.
Whether to grant a new trial for Johnson was essentially up to the judge, but at the end of the June 1 hearing, Wallace agreed that a new trial was merited.
“I think in 2007 there were questions raised in that case that I thought were not appropriately addressed,” Wallace said.
Wallace said that according to the information he has seen, a jury would probably find Johnson not guilty.
During the June 1 hearing, Mumma highlighted a number of concerns about the investigation into who shot Durham Police Department Officer David Vereen in the arm during the Sept. 23, 2007 burglary into an apartment on Cherrycrest Drive.
In Vereen’s report, he wrote that he saw two men in the apartment, and that the shooter had “short black hair.” Johnson was bald during that time, he testified. During photo lineups, Vereen indicated that Johnson may have been the shooting but the officer said Johnson he had more facial hair and two-inch dreads.
Johnson alibi?
On June 1, Johnson’s former girlfriend Ewanda Robertson Joyner testified that she was with Johnson the night of the shooting.
In police reports, one officer wrote that Joyner said she was Johnson. Another officer wrote that she went to Burlington with friends.
Joyner said that during the trial she had a pending charge related to the shooting, and she decided not to testify. If the charge hadn’t been pending, she would have testified, she said.
Joyner said she ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor obstruction of justice charge related to an accusation that she burned Johnson’s clothes after the shooting. Joyner said she wasn’t guilty of the crime, but pleaded guilty because she was ready to move on with her life.
“I didn’t burn nothing,” she said. “I was just ready to get it over with. It was only a misdemeanor.”
Witness recants recantation
David Williams, whose fingerprint was found at the scene and was identified by a confidential informant, was interviewed by police two days after the shooting.
Williams admitted to participating in the break-in and testified in court that Johnson shot the officer.
In 2020 Williams signed an affidavit saying Johnson wasn’t present at the burglary and that Williams had an undisclosed deal with the prosecution.
Williams, however, didn’t show up Johnson’s initial hearing set for May 30. A judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest. Williams was arrested and testified in court June 1 that he told the truth when he testified in the 2010 trial, and lied in the affidavit.
Williams also said he didn’t have a deal with prosecutors, but they dismissed two charges that he wasn’t guilty of. Williams was convicted of second-degree burglary and initially sentenced to probation. The probation was later revoked, and he ended up serving 10 months in prison, according to court document.
Wallace said at the hearing that one of the key things his office would review was Williams’ truthfulness.
“I think it is tough to decide when David Williams is telling the truth and not telling the truth,” Wallace said.
Williams told police that they drove a car owned by Steven Shealey to the break-in. Shealey, who testified in the hearing, told Wallace outside of court that Williams told him that that he lied about Johnson being there that night.
Johnson testified June 1 that he has always maintained his innocence. A few days before the shooting, Williams shot up a car Johnson was in and a bullet grazed him, Johnson said.
Mumma asked if Johnson would have participated in burglary with Williams after that.
Johnson said no.
“I would have tried to shoot him,” Johnson said. “Get him back.”
Family reacts
After Superior Court Judge Judge Edwin Wilson ruled that Johnson’s charges could be vacated, Johnson’s mother described the moment as “a big break” for the family.
“I get to take my son home,” Vanessa Johnson said. Kevin Johnson has already requested a trip to Italian Pizzeria, his family said.
Another person excited about Kevin Johnson’s release is his son, Kevin Johnson Jr. , 15, who was born around the time of the shooting. The son said he talks to his Dad almost daily on the phone, but has only hugged him once.
“I don’t want to cry,” Kevin Johnson Jr. said after the hearing concluded June 1. “I don’t know how to show my expression right now. I am just ready to see him.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated on June 27, 2023 to note that prosecutors dropped all charges against Kevin Burnette Johnson related to the shooting of a police officer during a burglary in 2007.
Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published June 1, 2023 at 12:07 PM.
