CHP officer pleads not guilty to killing husband
A California Highway Patrol officer pleaded not guilty Thursday to killing her husband on an offramp of the 91 Freeway nearly two years ago as they drove home from a Compton restaurant.
Tomiekia Johnson, 31, contended in the aftermath of the shooting that she fired the gun, which she had gotten from a relative, in self-defense against her husband, Marcus Lemons.
But after a lengthy investigation, Johnson was arrested Tuesday by homicide detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department at a CHP office in Los Angeles, where she had been assigned since the slaying.
Johnson is charged with killing her 31-year-old husband, a Compton barber and renowned amateur bowler, while off duty. Johnson told investigators she fired in-self defense because her husband was physically abusing her.
According to Deputy Dist. Atty. Natalie Adomian, Johnson intentionally shot her husband, and the killing had nothing to do with self-defense. The couple had left a T.G.I. Friday's in Compton shortly before the shooting.
The sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because the case was ongoing, said Johnson later told detectives Lemons had physically abused her in the car.
The sources said detectives contend that forensic information gathered at the scene contradicts some parts of her account.
After the shooting, Johnson drove the car to her parents' home, where they called authorities.
Johnson was ordered held in lieu of $2 million bail.
RELATED:
CHP officer accused of killing husband set to answer charges in court
Brother of man allegedly killed by CHP officer gratified at arrest in 2-year-old case
CHP says they moved quickly to remove officer suspected of killing from contact with public
-- Richard Winton
EDITOR'S PICKS:
2 mil??? Daaaaam! She's getting hung. What the heck was she thinking being an officer of the law and all? Not only did this dude piss her off but he also is about to hand her a life sentence.
Posted by: Charles | January 13, 2011 at 04:00 PM
Why would someone marry a woman with a gun and knew how to use it?
Posted by: Max Plank | January 13, 2011 at 05:01 PM
What happen to swift justice??? The Sheriff's and D.A. must have forgot about this case-low priority, I guess.
Posted by: Lady justice takes a nap... | January 13, 2011 at 06:51 PM
Tomiekia ?
Posted by: ricciardi | January 13, 2011 at 07:11 PM
Looks like amateur bowler Marcus Lemons got a 7-10 split of life before leaving this world.
Posted by: Dream Police | January 13, 2011 at 09:23 PM
This is a case of a jealous wife who happen to be a CHP officer, who knew she would get away with this crime, because she believed she was above the law; If you knew Marcus you would certainly know that he wouldn't hurt a fly, and she used self-defense as a way to justify her killing him in a jealous rage; Why would she borrow a gun from her cousin?, if she's an officer of the law, wouldn't she have her own gun?; It sounds like she had this all planned out, if he was beating on her, Why would she be outside the car when she shot him?, if he was hitting her while she was in the car, wouldn't she have shot him inside the car?, or if she was on the outside of the car already, why didn't she call the police on him?, since she wasn't in any imminent danger. There are so many questions in this case that need answers, and she has been very inconsistant in the chain of events leading up to why, and when she shot Marcus.
Posted by: Just Say'n | January 14, 2011 at 08:41 AM
Ain't affirmative action wonderful!?!
Posted by: Harvey Scheinberg | January 14, 2011 at 05:16 PM
If the current story is that deputies at the scene described Lemons as having been shot in the head and that Johnson claims she shot him in the torso, why wasn't she fired 2 years ago for lying to a police officer? Why did they just hide her from the public waiting for everything blew over?
Posted by: JC | January 15, 2011 at 11:11 AM