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Baltimore native Deron "DJ" Johnson, 52, is the third to be sentenced for his role in the murder of a teenage drug dealer that he, George Fields, and Joseph Williams conspired to rob in September 2020, federal authorities announced.
According to his plea agreement, he admitted that on Sept. 29, 2020, the trio conspired to rob a 16-year-old of both his drugs and proceeds, leading to a skirmish early that morning that ended up in his death.
Officials say that Johnson and the teen pulled into the parking lot of a hotel in the 6500 block of Frankford Avenue in Baltimore, where Williams had been staying for months selling drugs under a fake name.
At the time, Johnson was working as a "hack" driver and gave the 16-year-old a ride to the hotel under the ruse that he'd be selling drugs to Williams and Fields.
The two-faced trio had other intentions.
Williams and Fields approached Johnson’s van and Fields held out money as though he was ready to make a purchase, prosecutors said. Williams and Fields then began robbing the teen while Johnson walked to the rear of the van and took time to have a smoke.
Fields previously admitted that he pinned the victim down in the front passenger seat of the van and went through his pockets as the teen struggled with his arms and legs flailing, at which point Williams shot him once in the chest.
The teen stumbled away from the van and collapsed on the ground, at which point, Johnson, Williams, and Fields and then got into the van and Johnson drove away.
A hotel surveillance captured the entire incident, and the 16-year-old died later that day after being taken to an area hospital.
That same morning, prosecutors say that the three returned to the hotel in Johnson's van while police were still at the scene investigating the murder, leading to their downfall.
Investigators immediately recognized the van from the footage and towed the van while detaining Johnson. A subsequent search of the van led to the recovery of a single bullet from the front row carpet.
The following month, officials say that a search of Johnson's phone found text messages between he and Williams, the drug dealer, a photo of the three, and calls between Johnson and the victim hours before he was killed.
"A cell phone seized from Williams at the time of his arrest revealed that Williams had been staying at the hotel, where he was also dealing drugs and that he was in dire need of money," according to the DOJ. "The phone also contained messages immediately following the murder in which Williams made plans to dispose of the murder weapon and directed another individual to destroy evidence."
Williams, 33, and Fields, 49, both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to more than two decades in prison.
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