Jennifer Renee Harper Johnson was 30 when she was shot dead in her Amherst, Virginia home on January 14, 2014. A Liberty University business administration student and IHOP server, she was also a mother of two sons, ages fourteen and seven, who were in the house when the shooting occurred.

The older son later said he heard arguing between Jennifer and Cordell Lionel Carter, a man she had been in an intermittent romantic relationship with, followed by a loud noise described as a boom or something dropping. Carter emerged from the bedroom, made a remark to the children about an ambulance, and left the residence. He was arrested, tried, and a jury convicted him of first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a homicide. Carter testified he acted in self-defense, saying Jennifer pulled a gun and he hit her hand, causing the weapon to discharge; the jury rejected that defense.

If anyone knew Jennifer, her family, or saw activity at the Amherst home that day, please share what might help clarify what happened.