‘All I Could Do Was Fight the Bullets,’ Victim Testifies in Husband’s Attempted Murder Trial

By Andrew Michaels - August 3, 2023
Attempted Murder | Court | Daily Stories | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects |

“If you break my heart, I will kill you.”

A Baltimore City prosecutor reminded jurors of this text from the defendant, 37-year-old Roderick Johnson, to his then-wife that he sent 17 days before gunning her down outside their Linnard Street home on Nov. 4, 2021.

On July 28, Johnson and his defense attorney, Benjamin Charlton, sat silently in the courtroom of Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Kendra Ausby as the prosecutor presented her final arguments at the close of the defendant’s attempted murder trial. Later that afternoon, the jury found Johnson guilty of attempted first-degree murder, firearm use in a crime of violence, firearm possession with a felony conviction and reckless endangerment.

His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 21.

“It’s a tale as old as time: love gone wrong,” the prosecutor said to the jury on Friday. In this case, “love was a weapon in the defendant’s arsenal along with a .38 revolver.”

The prosecutor explained that Johnson was a jealous and controlling spouse, breaking multiple cell phones belonging to his wife, accusing her of cheating and telling her to end relationships with friends she had for years. According to the victim’s testimony, she recalled being chased out of their home by the defendant and running down the 700 block of Linnard Street.

“I felt a sting and I was able to run,” the victim testified earlier at trial. “Then, I felt another sting and I fell right there.”

Now crawling on her stomach after being shot, the victim recalled turning onto her back and coming face-to-face with Johnson, who she said kept shooting her.

“All I could do was fight the bullets,” the victim testified, mimicking how she waved her hands in the air in an attempt to shield herself from the hail of gunfire.

During her closing argument, the prosecutor told jurors that the victim was shot at least four times in her back, chest and left arm and was left choking on her own blood. The defendant never visited his wife in the four months she was in hospital because he “went on the run,” she said.

Although no DNA or fingerprint evidence was admitted a trial, the prosecutor told the jury that it simply wasn’t necessary as the victim identified Johnson. Baltimore Police Department officers also never recovered the alleged murder weapon because Johnson wasn’t arrested until Jan. 25, 2022, leaving him plenty of time to dispose the gun.

Charlton acknowledged that while Baltimore Police collected some pieces of the puzzle in their investigation, they never put those pieces together.

“This case all relies on [the victim’s] testimony,” the defense attorney said, noting that none of the reported witnesses who allegedly heard the shooting appeared in court to testify. Given this being an area of high crime, he said, it’s crucial to corroborate witness statements.

Charlton also questioned the victim’s own testimony, reminding jurors that she had testified that she had consumed alcohol earlier that night. Medical reports determined the victim was under the influence, he explained, so much so that she was “closer to being dead from so much alcohol.”

“She was blackout drunk,” Charlton said. “She doesn’t admit it because she wants you to believe her.”

In her rebuttal, the prosecutor told the jury that defense counsel was trying to divert their attention with these small details.