On Tuesday, a state appeals court upheld Jayshawn Malik Johnson's, also known as Times Too, conviction and two back-to-back life sentences for the shooting incident outside a Wilkes-Barre tavern on South Main Street that resulted in the deaths of two men and the injury of a third man in 2021.
At 24 years old, Johnson contested the strength of the evidence by arguing that no witnesses at the scene identified him as the shooter, he claimed the search warrants used were not valid, and highlighted that he is taller than a parking meter by several inches.
In November 2022, a jury in Luzerne County found Johnson guilty on two counts of criminal homicide for the fatal shootings of Maurice Chapman, 31, and Damian Thomas, 32, and the causing of permanent injuries to Alquan Cade outside Bo’s On Main in the 200 block of South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, on Jan. 30, 2021.
The shooting was recorded by multiple surveillance cameras in the vicinity.
Despite the footage and other individuals present at the scene, Johnson was exclusively identified by Wilkes-Barre Police Detective James Conmy while reviewing the surveillance recordings due to previous interactions with the police.
Johnson, with the assistance of his appellate attorney, Matthew Paul Kelly, disputed a decision by Judge David W. Lupas to not exclude evidence seized during the investigation.
Additionally, Johnson argued in his appeal that the footage depicted the shooter as being about the same height as a parking meter, whereas he is six to seven inches taller.
A three-member panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court – President Judge Anne E. Lazarus, Judge Mary Jane Bowes, and President Judge Emeritus Correale F. Stevens – rejected all of Johnson’s appeal arguments in a 24-page verdict.
The appeals court determined that Judge Lupas appropriately rejected the plea to discard evidence seized by search warrants at a Sherman Hills apartment and upheld Conmy’s identification of Johnson through the surveillance footage.
Furthermore, the appeals court affirmed Lupas's ruling to deny Johnson’s request for a new trial based on the discrepancy in height between the gunman and the parking meter.
The appeals court stated, “…(Lupas) noted that it expressly disagreed with Johnson’s characterization that the video evidence showed the shooter to be at, or near, the same height as the parking meter,” the appeals court expressed. “After our review…we cannot conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in ruling against Johnson on his weight claim….Johnson is afforded no relief on this claim.”
Lupas imposed two consecutive life sentences on Johnson for the killings of Chapman and Thomas in addition to 22 years, six months to 45 years for shooting and causing permanent harm to Cade, who lost his right eye.
