Father hopes billboards will help find son's killer

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - The father of a man killed last Halloween is taking action to find the person or people responsible for his son's murder.

Samuel Johnson, 21, was shot in October of 2014. The medical examiner declared his death a homicide. Johnson can be seen on video staggering from his home minutes before he was killed.

Samuel's father, Reginald, has put a picture of the car seen circling around his home the day his son was killed up on billboards on Interstate 40. It's the same car police said may be connected to Johnson's murder.

"I don't want to see any parent go through what me and my wife are going through, because this has been the worst time of my life," Reginald Johnson said.

The billboard urges people to call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH if they have any information about the car or Johnson's murder. Johnson said the billboards were donated to him in hopes of finding his son's killer.

"I'm doing all I can do as a parent, and I just want somebody to help us solve this case," Johnson said.

There are two of the billboards on Memphis interstates. There is one at I-40 near Chelsea Avenue and another on I-240 near Perkins Avenue.

"If you know what kind of car it is, call 528-CASH," Johnson said. "If you don't want to call police, call Channel 5 and let them know that the car that y'all showed on the TV, I know what kind of car that it is."

"[Donating the billboards] was a great help, and I want to thank Mr. Trip Trezevant for putting up the signs."

Prior to his death last Halloween, Police said Johnson was shot on October 8, 2014 in what police are calling a possible gang shooting. His family believes the bullet from that shooting is what killed him, though the medical examiner ruled Johnson's cause of death on October 31, 2014 as a homicide.

"Sometimes people get caught up with the wrong type of people and things happen, but that still doesn't justify someone for taking a life," Johnson said. "I want the people who murdered my son off the streets, because if they're not caught, they're going to end up killing someone else."

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