Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 4-21-17

Local
Athlete’s Dad Wants ‘Accountability,’ For Son’s Death
BY IRIS B. HOLTON to prosecute the shooter for Sentinel City Editor homicide in the death of Jayquon Johnson as they Last week, the family of a have found there is insuffi- young athlete shot on New cient evidence to rebut Year’s Day, learned that the Cody Quinn’s claim of
teenager who killed his son self-defense.”
wasn’t going to be charged. Jayquon died on Janu- The teenager’s father said ary 1, 2017, at a local hospi- that decision is unaccept- tal after being shot while in able. the garage of a home in the
“My son was held ac- 4500 block of Cabbage countable for his bad Palm Drive, in Valrico. The choices. He paid for them home was occupied by Ms. with his life and everyone Heidi Quinn and her son, else should be held account- Cody Quinn. Cody, 16, able for their actions,” admitted to being the per- Johnny Johnson, father son who fired the fatal shot of Jayquon Johnson that killed Jayquon John- said. son.
Last Friday, the Hillsbor- At the time of the shoot- ough County Sheriff’s Office ing, police said it “appears issued the following state- to have occurred following a ment: the “Office of the confrontation that resulted State Attorney has declined from a drug transaction.”
Johnny Johnson, left, is shown with his son, Jayquon Johnson in this photograph
Johnson said, “My son laid on the garage floor until they finished removing the drugs and guns. They didn’t call the police or an ambu- lance. My son laid on the floor in agony and paid.
“He (Cody Quinn) claimed it was self-defense, but integrity is at issue with his credibility. My son is not able to speak for himself. He should be charged with manslaughter or culpable negligence. He should be held accountable for his ac- tions.”
Johnson further stated that his family didn’t dis- cuss the case in public al- lowing the Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Of- fice to conduct their investi- gation.
He stated that no one from the State Attorney’s Office kept them informed during the investigation and they were told of the deci- sion about an hour before it
HEIDI QUINN
... Charged with tampering
with evidence
was made public.
“The State Attorney’s Of-
fice is not transparent. Changes need to be made to communicate with the fam- ilies of the victim. I met with the State Attorney’s Office and I came away with more questions than answers.
“I am not asking for jus- tice because justice is re- venge. I want accountability. I want every- one to be held accountable for what they did. This deci- sion is unacceptable,” he said.
Remembering Jayquon Standing at 6’10,” John- son was a starting member of the Brandon High School Basketball Team. He was the son of Ms. Kennishia Doyle-Anderson and
Johnny Johnson, Sr. Johnson said he does not want people to remem- ber just the last few minutes of his son’s life. “I want peo- ple to remember that he was a son, grandson, uncle, brother, and a great team- mate at Brandon High School. He accomplished a lot in his short life and he touched a lot of people. That is what I want people to re-
member about my son.” Johnson said the tragic death of his son has changed his life. His future plans are to speak to kids about the choice they make because he doesn’t want an- other parent to go through what he and his family are
experiencing with the loss. “I want to let kids know that the decisions they make not only affects their lives, but the lives of the people who love them as well. I’ll never see my son play bas- ketball again. But I have a lot of fond memories and no
one can distort them.”
CODY QUINN
... Claimed self-defense in
shooting
He admitted that this is an area that he doesn’t have any experience in. He hopes someone in the community can help guide his family through the process. Any- one wishing to contact Johnson can reach him at his email: croleolon4j@gmail.com.
Mother, Son Charged
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office arrested both mother and son and charged them, but not with the death.
Police said two guns were found at the scene.
Detectives said that dur- ing the investigation, two guns were found and both had dirt on them. Ms. Quinn had allegedly taken both guns and buried them. She then retrieved the guns and put them back in the garage. She was charged with two felony counts of tampering with evidence.
Cody Quinn was charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm, which is a misdemeanor. He was also charged with felony possession with the intent to sell, drug traffick- ing, and possession of drug
paraphernalia. Investigators said in the
charging affidavits that Johnson had gone to pur- chase marijuana from Quinn and both were armed. Quinn alleged that Johnson attempted to rob him and he shot in self-de- fense.
Police said there was an independent witness to the shooting. That person has not been identified by po- lice.
Quinn was a sophomore at Bloomingdale High School at the time of the shooting.
PAGE 8-A FLORIDA SENTINEL-BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017