On a Wednesday in Columbus, Georgia, five days before Christmas 2017, 68-year-old Joseph Howard Johnson III was shot and killed during a robbery at the Columbus Pawn Shop on Fort Benning Road. A retired Army staff sergeant who served 20 years and retired at Fort Benning, Johnson was working at the shop when a shootout occurred and he sustained a fatal gunshot wound.

Investigators identified suspects in the robbery; one of those individuals was Marquiell Wilson. In March 2019 Wilson pleaded guilty to his role in Johnson’s death and was sentenced. During the court proceeding, a written statement by Wilson was read aloud by his attorney after the sentence was imposed.

Anyone who knew Johnson, witnessed the robbery, or has information about the events that night is asked to come forward.