A murder suspect arrested in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old in east Oak Cliff told Dallas police that he shot the victim after being shot at while holding his 2-year-old son.
Dallas police officers were called to a shooting scene at about 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 6, to the 400 block of North Denley Drive near the Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center in east Oak Cliff. The responding officer found Kendrick Johnson with a gunshot injury on a sidewalk. Police said Johnson had been shot multiple times and was taken to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Dallas police arrested Terry Smith, 19, on Tuesday, Oct. 19, in connection with the fatal shooting.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the victim went to the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 200 block of Monaghan Court and opened fire, shooting several times. However, no one was struck.
Two individuals from the building chased Johnson and shot him in the head a few blocks away.
The affidavit stated that two witnesses told police that they saw Smith running out of his apartment with a gun in his hand.
Smith, who later met with detectives, said he had been waiting outside his mother’s apartment, holding his 2-year-old son when Johnson opened fire. He claimed that Johnson had fired three shots towards him, with one of the shots narrowly missing his son’s head.
According to the affidavit, Smith also told detectives that he had grabbed his gun and chased down Johnson before shooting him.
However, police wrote in the affidavit that Johnson was no longer a threat to Smith when he shot him. Smith remained in custody as of Thursday, and his bail has been set at $500,000.
