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Kevin Johnson, a Missouri man convicted for the 2005 murder of a Kirkwood Police Officer was put to death by lethal injection Tuesday.
Johnson, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was found guilty of murdering Police Officer William McEntee. McEntee was one of the responding officers who were sent to Johnson’s home in July of 2005 to serve an arrest warrant on him.
Johnson was believed to have violated the terms of his probation, he had been convicted of assaulting his girlfriend. When Johnson saw the officers arrive at his home, he woke up his 12-year-old brother Joseph “Bam Bam” Long who ran to a neighbor’s house. According to the Post-Dispatch, Long then collapsed due to a congenital heart defect and began to have a seizure.
Johnson would later testify that Officer McEntee kept their mother from entering the house to help Joseph and that his brother died later that day at a nearby hospital.
McEntee returned to the neighborhood to check on a different report of fireworks. According to a court filing from the Missouri attorney general’s office, McEntee was in his patrol vehicle interviewing three children. Johnson approached his vehicle and opened fire, striking McEntee three times, in the leg, torso and head.
Johnson also hit one of the children and stole McEntee’s sidearm according to the local outlet.
In the court filing the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, Johnson told his mother that McEntee “let my brother die” and “needs to see what it feels like to die.” His mother told him, “That’s not true,” but he returned to the car where McEntee was alive on his hands and knees in the street, and shot him twice in the back of the head killing him instantly.
According to the Post-Dispatch, protests were held in Jefferson City, Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Bonne Terre.
Johnson’s legal team appealed the death sentence on the claim that racism played a role in the sentencing, and that Johnson has been executed because he was Black and murdered a white officer.
McEntee, a husband and father of three was represented by his wife who spoke to reporters after the execution. Mary McEntee read a statement to the press and said Johnson acted as “judge, juror and executioner” when he murdered her husband.
“Bill was killed on his hands and knees in front of strangers, the people he dedicated his life to,” Mary McEntee said.
In a statement, Missouri Governor Mike Parson confirmed that the State would carry out the execution under the law.
He wrote, “Mr. Johnson has received every protection afforded by the Missouri and United States Constitutions, and Mr. Johnson’s conviction and sentence remain for his horrendous and callous crime. The State of Missouri will carry out Mr. Johnson’s sentence according to the Court’s order and deliver justice,” Governor Parson said.
“The violent murder of any citizen, let alone a Missouri law enforcement officer, should be met only with the fullest punishment state law allows. Through Mr. Johnson’s own heinous actions, he stole the life of Sergeant McEntee and left a family grieving, a wife widowed, and children fatherless. Clemency will not be granted.”
Kevin Johnson, a Missouri man convicted for the 2005 murder of a Kirkwood Police Officer was put to death by lethal injection Tuesday.
Johnson, according to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was found guilty of murdering Police Officer William McEntee. McEntee was one of the responding officers who were sent to Johnson’s home in July of 2005 to serve an arrest warrant on him.
Johnson was believed to have violated the terms of his probation, he had been convicted of assaulting his girlfriend. When Johnson saw the officers arrive at his home, he woke up his 12-year-old brother Joseph “Bam Bam” Long who ran to a neighbor’s house. According to the Post-Dispatch, Long then collapsed due to a congenital heart defect and began to have a seizure.
Johnson would later testify that Officer McEntee kept their mother from entering the house to help Joseph and that his brother died later that day at a nearby hospital.
McEntee returned to the neighborhood to check on a different report of fireworks. According to a court filing from the Missouri attorney general’s office, McEntee was in his patrol vehicle interviewing three children. Johnson approached his vehicle and opened fire, striking McEntee three times, in the leg, torso and head.
Johnson also hit one of the children and stole McEntee’s sidearm according to the local outlet.
In the court filing the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported, Johnson told his mother that McEntee “let my brother die” and “needs to see what it feels like to die.” His mother told him, “That’s not true,” but he returned to the car where McEntee was alive on his hands and knees in the street, and shot him twice in the back of the head killing him instantly.
According to the Post-Dispatch, protests were held in Jefferson City, Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Bonne Terre.
Johnson’s legal team appealed the death sentence on the claim that racism played a role in the sentencing, and that Johnson has been executed because he was Black and murdered a white officer.
McEntee, a husband and father of three was represented by his wife who spoke to reporters after the execution. Mary McEntee read a statement to the press and said Johnson acted as “judge, juror and executioner” when he murdered her husband.
In a statement, Missouri Governor Mike Parson confirmed that the State would carry out the execution under the law.
He wrote, “Mr. Johnson has received every protection afforded by the Missouri and United States Constitutions, and Mr. Johnson’s conviction and sentence remain for his horrendous and callous crime. The State of Missouri will carry out Mr. Johnson’s sentence according to the Court’s order and deliver justice,” Governor Parson said.
“The violent murder of any citizen, let alone a Missouri law enforcement officer, should be met only with the fullest punishment state law allows. Through Mr. Johnson’s own heinous actions, he stole the life of Sergeant McEntee and left a family grieving, a wife widowed, and children fatherless. Clemency will not be granted.”