Duval County Jury Finds Johnson Guilty of Second-Degree Murder

State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County jury found Payne Johnson Jr. guilty of Second-Degree Murder. With the verdict, Johnson faces up to life in Florida State Prison. The Honorable Jonathan Sacks will sentence Johnson at a later date.

On Dec. 4, 2022, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to a Wigmore Street business and found the victim dead from a single gunshot wound to the back. Video surveillance from nearby businesses showed a grey car pull into the entrance around 9:25 a.m., leave, and park nearby on Wigmore Street. Johnson then drove back onto the property around 11:18 a.m. Two gunshots can be heard on the surveillance video. Following the gunshots, Johnson drove off in the grey car. Around 11:42 a.m., the victim’s cellphone received a notification of activity on his debit card, but the victim was already dead by this time. The bank informed officers where the debit card was used; video surveillance from those locations showed Johnson get out of the grey car and try to get money out of ATMs at multiple gas stations. Johnson’s cellphone data showed him at the crime scene at the time of the shooting as well as at the mentioned gas stations. Johnson’s cellphone also contained a photo of a firearm taken 20 minutes before the shooting as well as photos of the crime scene.

The next day, Dec. 5, 2022, Johnson’s fiancé reported him missing after he said he would be home the day before and never showed up. Johnson was arrested on a warrant for this crime in South Carolina months later.  Live ammunition was found in his vehicle that matched the brand of the casings found at the scene. 

The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Will Grauel and Lee Wingard.