Members of a Georgia narcotics investigation team shot and killed 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during a drug raid in her Atlanta home November 21, 2006.
A search warrant stating crack cocaine was being sold in her apartment allowed the officers to cut through the burglar bars protecting Johnston's home and burst through her door without identifying themselves.
Johnston, who lived alone, apparently mistook the plainclothes officers for intruders and, according to the prosecutor trying the officers, fired one shot through the door and hit nothing. The police responded, firing 39 shots, killing Johnston and apparently wounding three of their own.
Investigators did not find any crack cocaine or any evidence that drugs were being sold in the apartment. In an apparent attempt to fabricate a cover story, one of the officers, J.R. Smith, planted three bags of marijuana in the home, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Yonette Sam-Buchanan.
Those involved in the raid gave contradictory accounts of the events leading up to Johnston's death. The officers claimed the raid was executed after they received a tip from an unnamed informant who said he had purchased crack cocaine from a man in Johnston's apartment. They also said the informant had reported the apartment was equipped with a video surveillance system ' justifying the "no-knock" warrant.
However, after the shooting, the informant told a local news station that he had never even been to Johnston's home, and that police asked him to fabricate the story after the shooting. Also, investigators found no surveillance equipment in the apartment.
On April 26, 2007, two of the officers, Smith and Gregg Junnier, pleaded guilty to several charges, including manslaughter, and expect more than 10 years in prison. Another officer who was involved in the raid but did not fire any shots, Arthur Tesler, pleaded guilty on Oct. 30, 2008, to federal charges of conspiring to violate Johnston's civil rights. His sentencing is scheduled for February 2009, but as part of his plea agreement federal prosecutors will recommend he receive 10 years and one month in prison.
