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Accused killer of mother and son goes on trial
Gloria Gomez reports
TAMPA, Fla. - During opening statements Monday in the double murder trial of Tyrone Johnson, prosecutor John Terry told the jury some of the gruesome details of Johnson's alleged crimes.
Prosecutors say on October 21, 2018, an argument over what to watch on TV allegedly prompted Tyrone Johnson to kill his girlfriend and her 10-year-old son in the apartment the three shared. Stephanie Willis and her son, Ricky's bodies were found lying next to each other in their Tampa apartment.
Prosecutors said this was a calculated double murder by Johnson who deserves to pay with his life.
The defense argues this was a crime of passion.
Tyrone Johnson is accused of killing his girlfriend, Stephanie Willis and her son, Ricky
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"He went and hunted down that little boy and shot him under a bed," Terry told the jury.
However, Johnson's public defender, Donna Perry said Stephanie had been drinking and the fight over the TV quickly became personal.
She said Stephanie insulted Johnson's son who had died by suicide.
"I see why your son killed himself, like a [expletive]," Stephanie allegedly told Johnson, according to the defense.
The defense also said Johnson called his father over FaceTime during the confrontation.
"[Johnson] was trying to leave when Stephanie attacked him," Perry said, according to Johnson's father's account of the events.
But prosecutors said Johnson shot Stephanie twice and then went after her son, who was apparently hiding under his bed.
"We have shell casings, we have blood, we have holes in the wall in the little boy's room," explained Terry.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Johnson faces the death penalty.