MESA, Ariz. - Officials with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office say a grand jury has indicted a man for trying to murder a Department of Child Safety caseworker.
Here's what to know.
Who's the suspect?
Deandre Terrell Johnson
The suspect was identified in court documents as 32-year-old Deandre Terrell Johnson.
What happened?
According to court documents we received, the incident happened on Nov. 5, at a commercial building in the area of Alma School Road and Southern Avenue that houses a DCS branch. Police officers responded to the scene following multiple 911 calls for a report of a man choking another person.
"Upon police arrival, they located the victim lying on the ground in the lobby," investigators wrote. "Witnesses said they observed the defendant choking the victim twice."
The victim, per investigators, was a caseworker for a case involving Johnson's daughter.
"The defendant had a meeting in the lobby with the victim. The defendant video recorded the meeting with a mobile device and livestreamed the interaction to his Facebook profile under the account username of the defendant's legal name," investigators wrote.
Investigators said that the video is extremely clear, and that Johnson was very identifiable in the video. They also say the video was "extremely graphic."
"At the end of their meeting, the defendant and the victim stood up and the victim started to walk away. The defendant then wraps his arm around the victim's neck and puts him into a carotid choke," read a portion of the court documents. "The victim is held in this choke for approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds."
Police say bystanders told Johnson to let go of the victim. Johnson eventually let go after the victim lost consciousness.
"The defendant then stands over the victim until he starts moving again," read a portion of the court documents. "The defendant then says to the victim ‘you still breathing?’ And then 'he's still breathing, I didn't make my [expletive] point,' and he then wraps his arm around the victim's neck again."
Johnson, according to police, later let go of the victim when bystanders yelled for him to stop. He was later found by Mesa Police detectives.
"Mesa detectives activated their lights and sirens attempting to stop the defendant. The defendant did not stop his vehicle, which Mesa detectives deployed a Grappler on the defendant's vehicle, to which he continued to drive and broke the Grappler net," read a portion of the court documents. "Mesa detectives attempted multiple PIT maneuvers on the defendant's vehicle."
At the hospital, the victim told police that he and Johnson spoke a week prior about an incident, and during the conversation, Johnson said "I came here to kill you. You're lucky my daughter vouched for you."
"[The victim] was able to calm the defendant down, and nothing happened," investigators wrote, referring to the earlier incident.
Police say when detectives spoke with the victim at the hospital, he said that he spoke to Johnson a week prior to the incident, and threatening words were said during the conversation. At that time, the victim was able to calm Johnson down, and nothing happened.
On the day of the incident, police said the victim was set to have a phone interview with Johnson, but got busy on a different investigation. The victim and Johnson later agreed to meet in person to talk about the services that can be provided to Johnson.
"When the defendant arrived at his office, they sat down and had a conversation. He felt the defendant was being aggressive, and he was trying to calm him down by talking to him," read a portion of the court documents. "When the defendant grabbed him and began to choke him, he thought ‘he just wants to kill me.’ He felt there's ‘no other reason’ for what the defendant was doing, and 'felt this is it, at least it's on camera.'"
What is the suspect indicted for?
In a statement released Nov. 15, officials said the grand jury indicted 32-year-old Deandre Terrell Johnson on multiple charges:
- Four counts of disorderly conduct
- One count of attempt to commit first degree murder
- One count of aggravated assault
- One count of unlawful flight from law enforcement vehicle
"Johnson is currently being held in-custody on a $500,000 cash only bond," officials with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said.