Do you remember Mitchell Johnson?
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Jonesboro school shooter Mitchell Johnson could get as many as 30 years in prison for stealing a debit card and possessing marijuana, though his attorney says the slayings he committed as a 13-year-old should not be considered at sentencing.I remember him as the scrawny kid who decided, with his little pal Andrew Golden, to ring the fire alarm at the school he attended and shoot his schoolmates and teaches as they exited the building in an orderly manner.
I remember this, too:
When the boys got to the school, Golden set off the fire alarm whilst Johnson took the weapons to the woods near the school. Golden then ran back to the woods where Johnson had taken the weapons. When children and teachers came out of the school, The two boys opened fire, mostly with their rifles. 13 Students and 2 teachers were hit, 5 of whom died. Afterwards they attempted to run back to the van and escape, but were apprehended by police.And:
Police did not offer a motive, but a classmate said one of the suspects had recently broken up with his girlfriend.And I remember the pictures of the girls, and teacher .. the teacher who died trying to protect her charges.
"He told me after seventh period (Monday) that he was never going to see me again and I wouldn't be able to see him again because he was going to run away," said Jennifer Nightingale. She did not say if any of the victims was the former girlfriend.
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Mitchell Johnson was released from confinement after he turned 21. Authorities won't discuss the disposition of Andrew Golden "for privacy reasons" ... as if this little
But Mitchell Johnson has had his chance to make it in The Real World, and failed.
Johnson pleaded guilty Tuesday in Benton County court to theft and financial identity fraud, both felonies, and to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance. Last month he was sentenced to four years in prison on a federal weapons conviction.
Johnson and Andrew Golden, then 11, killed four pupils and a teacher at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro in 1998. Their ages limited the length of their incarcerations, and both were freed at age 21.
In the latest case, Johnson was accused of taking a debit card left by a disabled man at the gas station where he worked. Police said that when Johnson was arrested Feb. 2, he was in possession of marijuana.
Sentencing is set for Nov. 14. Benton County prosecutor Van Stone said he will seek the maximum sentence and may try to make the schoolyard slayings an issue under a new law that allows juveniles to be punished as adults once they serve their juvenile court sentence.
Johnson's lawyer, Scott McElveen, said Wednesday that he will argue that none of the crimes Johnson committed as a juvenile can factor into the punishment for his latest offenses. "It's inadmissible," he said.
"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers ..."
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