15th Circuit Court District Attorney Hal Kittrell has announced that on Oct. 18, after a three-day trial, Troy P. Johnson, age 24, was found guilty by a Lamar County jury of two counts of attempted capital murder of a law enforcement officer, two counts of auto burglary, possession of a stolen firearm and burglary of a dwelling.
Johnson will be sentenced at a future date on these charges by Circuit Court Judge Richelle Lumpkin. He is facing up to one day less than life on each of the two charges of Attempted Capital Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer, up to seven years on each of the Auto Burglary charges, up to five years on the charge of Possession of a Stolen Firearm and up to 25 years in prison for the charge of Burglary of a Dwelling.
District Attorney Hal Kittrell stated, “This Defendant terrorized a community and tried to take the lives of two Deputies — Steve Pazos and TJ Vaughan. This night could have gone very differently. Law Enforcement Officers do what no one else will do. They are the ones who get called when things are bad. They are the ones that run into the face of danger when everyone else runs away. They are our protectors. I’m thankful for those that held the Defendant accountable for his actions.
“We greatly appreciate the excellent work of Agent Zach Summers with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation on the Attempted Capital Murder charges and the Lamar County Sheriff’s Department for their investigation into the remaining charges in this case. I especially want to commend the hard work of my Assistant District Attorneys Kim Harlin and Lauren Harless for their prosecution in this matter. They work closely with these officers, which made this extremely difficult for them to try.
“This tragedy is every law enforcement family and department’s nightmare. One of the few positive aspects of this event was the coming together of all our surrounding law enforcement agencies to track down this fugitive. There truly is nothing like the Blue Family.”
