One of the two victims was a 2-year-old girl
PHOENIX (LAWFUEL) – Jeremiah Johns, 25 of Sacaton, Ariz., was sentenced to 147 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver. Johns pleaded guilty on January 8, 2009 to Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury and Use of a Firearm in a Crime of Violence.
Early in the day on February 28, 2008, co-defendant Michael Vasquez had a gang-related fight with three men. After the fight, Vasquez called several friends to come and help him retaliate. Jeremiah Johns and his brother, co-defendant Jerome Johns, responded.
The defendants drove to a residential area where they saw the rival gang-members standing outside. The men began to argue and Jeremiah Johns began firing a weapon at them, in the direction of a nearby home. Jeremiah Johns fired at least 30 rounds of ammunition from a high-caliber rifle. Many of the rounds entered the nearby home, striking an adult male and a two-year-old child who was sleeping in her crib. The child suffered serious bodily injury to her bowels and pelvis and serious nerve damage which called into question her ability to walk in the future.
Judge Silver told Johns that she had seen many gang-related cases in her career as a judge and attorney and that this case was one of the “most egregious.”
Co-defendant Michael Vasquez pleaded guilty on March 5, 2009 to Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury and Use of a Firearm in a Crime of Violence. Co-defendant Jerome Johns pled guilty on March 9, 2009 to Misprision of a Felony. Both are set for sentencing on May 18, 2009.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Gila River Police Department and the FBI. The prosecution was handled by Sharon Sexton, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-08-655-PHX-ROS
RELEASE NUMBER: 2009-099(Johns)
