Darious Dashon Johnson, 31, was killed in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 21, 2024. An 18-year-old, Guenther Boone Jr., entered the back seat of their vehicle; after Johnson questioned Boone about a gun Boone was holding, a single shot was fired. The driver fled and stopped about a mile away near Grove Street and South 2nd Street, where police found Johnson in the vehicle and already deceased from a gunshot wound around 3:15 a.m.

Investigators executed a search warrant at Boone’s home the same day and took him into custody. Confronted with surveillance footage and witness statements, Boone admitted to shooting Johnson during what he described as an attempted robbery and said he believed Johnson was reaching for a weapon; he also said the gun he fired jammed on a second attempt. A handgun later recovered from the vehicle’s center console was identified by a witness as belonging to Johnson, and the weapon Boone used was said to have been sold to him by Johnson.

Boone was charged with second-degree murder and illegal firearm possession and later pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional but unpremeditated murder under a plea agreement. He was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison.

If anyone has information about the events that led up to that night or knew Darious, please share what you know.