The Florida Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the death sentence for Tyrone T. Johnson, convicted of the premeditated murder of 10-year-old Ricky Willis in 2018.
The court rejected Johnson’s appeals, affirming the lower court’s verdict based on overwhelming evidence, including matching shell casings, bullet holes, and blood found at the scene.
Johnson was also convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Ricky’s mother, Stephanie Willis, but this ruling focused solely on the first-degree murder charge and death sentence for the boy’s killing.
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Justice Couriel, who wrote the main opinion, emphasized that a “rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Johnson had formed a conscious purpose to kill Ricky.”
Johnson, now 48, is currently incarcerated at Union Correctional Institution.
A 12-member jury unanimously recommended Johnson receive the death penalty in November of 2021.
The jury’s decision came five days after they found Johnson guilty of second-degree murder for killing Stephanie Willis and both first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse for killing Stephanie’s son Ricky “Ryon” Willis.
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Stephanie was a home health aide who dedicated her time to providing care for senior citizens. Ricky was an eager student who played the drums in his elementary school’s 5th-grade music ensemble.
Prosecutors explained to the 12-member jury that Johnson called 911 on the evening of October 21, 2018 and told the operator he had just shot two people.
Johnson claimed that they had attacked him, and he shot them to protect himself.
First responders found the two victims close together, but as detectives examined the physical evidence, it became clear Johnson was not under attack when he killed them.
Instead, detectives determined that Johnson and his girlfriend got into an argument over what the family would watch on TV, and during that confrontation, Johnson shot her multiple times.
As this nightmare was unfolding, his girlfriend’s 10-year-old son tried to hide from Johnson. Terrified, he crawled under his bed to keep from being found.
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The physical evidence showed that Johnson discovered Ricky as he desperately tried to hide—and shot him several times while he was still under the bed. Johnson then moved the victims’ bodies in an attempt to stage the scene for his phone call to 911 and his claim that he was defending himself.
“The day the defendant chose to shoot and kill my oldest daughter, and hunt down, torture and brutally murder my only biological grandson, part of me died. Not only did he take away my family, he took away my future generations,” said Robert Hewitt—Stephanie’s father and Ricky’s grandfather. “I am thankful for the decision in this case. After three years, we have received justice for Stephanie and Ryon (Ricky).”
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