Grandmother of Two-Year-Old Shot in Road Rage Incident Testifies

Thank you for reading Baltimore Witness. Help us continue our mission into 2024.

A grandmother of a two-year-old toddler who was shot during an alleged road rage incident in 2019 testified that the shooter followed her and continued to fire at her vehicle as she drove around Baltimore City trying to escape.

The witness was among several people to testify on Nov. 10 in the attempted homicide trial of 36-year-old Javon Johnson, who opted for a trial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer. Johnson is charged with four counts of first and second-degree murder in addition to several assault and firearms charges.

The alleged shooting occurred shortly after 12:30 a.m. on the 500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at West Franklin Street on Oct. 12, 2019.

During her testimony, the victim said she was in her 2019 Volkswagen Jetta with her two daughters and grandson stopped at a traffic light. Her younger daughter was sitting in the front passenger’s seat, with her other daughter and grandson in the backseat.

Three cars were in front of her at the traffic light and when it turned green, none of the cars moved, she said, so she honked her horn. The first two cars then drove off, but the third car remained still. Thinking the driver might be having car trouble, the victim said she pulled up next to the car when a man stuck a gun out of the window and began firing.

The victim immediately sped away but hit traffic, honking her horn for other cars to move as the man followed and continued to shoot at her vehicle.

“I told my kids to stay down and asked people to move [their cars], but no one did until the light changed,” she said.

Then, her eldest daughter told her that her grandson had been shot.

“My initial thought was, ‘I need to get my grandson to the hospital,” the victim said.

As she continued driving away, the woman eventually saw officers with the Baltimore Police Department driving toward her. She pulled in front of their vehicle and told officers her grandson was shot. The officer told her to wait while he called an ambulance, but the victim sped away out of concern for her injured grandson.

The victim said she noticed the shooter was still following her as she pulled up to the hospital and banged on the windows for help from security officers. Doctors responded shortly after their arrival and began treating her grandson.

Tears streamed down the grandmother’s face in the courtroom Wednesday, as the prosecutor showed photos of her grandson in a hospital bed. The victim said she told police that the shooter was driving a gray caravan “full of people” and that she saw the shooter’s arm extend out the window in order to fire his gun.

The victim later identified Johnson as the alleged shooter in a photo array.

Her grandson survived his injuries after being in the hospital for six weeks, she said, having had three blood transfusions and two different surgeries as the bullets tore through his stomach.

Prior to the grandmother’s testimony, the mother of Johnson’s children testified that she knew Johnson had the gun prior to the incident and had asked him to remove it from the home. Police later searched their home after the alleged shooting and found the gun.

Defense attorney Matthew Connell is expected to make arguments on behalf of Johnson on Nov. 12.

Follow this case