Criminal Procedure
Text Message May Explain Missing Murder Witness
Posted Jun 26, 2009, 10:38 am CST
By Molly McDonough
A chilling text message discovered by prosecutors handling a Cincinnati murder trial is creating problems in the ongoing case.
Prosecutors say witness Derrick Johnson sent the suspicious text message to Jonathan Williams on Tuesday, the same day both teens were slated to testify in a murder case against Ravea Garnett, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
According to the Enquirer, the following message was sent: "Bra this is Derrick I just got ah stack to not testify. Come to joe house im on the run to." Authorities translate the message to mean that the witness was paid $1,000 not to testify and was asking another witness to take a similar deal.
The newspaper reports that without the witnesses, the case against Garnett, who is accused of gunning down a woman in the city's West End area, may be difficult to prove.
Williams was arrested Tuesday. When he still refused to testify, the trial judge found him in contempt. The alleged sender of the text, Derrick Johnson, has not been located.