Ricky Johnson

In the predawn hours of a late January Saturday in Lawrenceville, Georgia, the quiet of the Crossland Economy Suites on West Pike Street was shattered by the sound of gunfire. It was around 2 a.m. on January 28, 2017, when police received a call about a shooting at the hotel. Arriving officers discovered a grim scene; two men, later identified as Ricky Johnson, a 52-year-old African American male, and Timothy Rogers, 53, were found dead from gunshot wounds. The assailant had vanished into the night before law enforcement arrived, leaving behind a double homicide that would trouble the Gwinnett County community.

In the immediate aftermath, the Lawrenceville Police Department began an intensive investigation into the killings. With little information to go on, they turned to the public for assistance, and Crime Stoppers offered a reward of up to $2,000 for any information that would lead to an arrest. For a month, the case remained a mystery, adding to the growing number of homicides in Georgia, which had seen an increase in murders from the previous year. The Gwinnett County Police Department, however, maintained a high clearance rate for such cases, a testament to their dedication to bringing justice to victims and their families.

The break in the case came a month after the fatal shootings. On March 1, 2017, police arrested 35-year-old Ladarrwin Davion Copeland. He was charged with two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and during the commission of a felony. Copeland was subsequently held at the Gwinnett County Jail without bond. Though an arrest was made, investigators remained tight-lipped about the motive and the circumstances that led to the violent encounter at the hotel.

It wasn't until the case went to trial that the tragic details of that January night emerged. The court learned that the primary target of Copeland's rage was Timothy Rogers. The conflict stemmed from Rogers' continued contact with his ex-girlfriend, who was then dating Copeland. On the night of the murders, Copeland and his girlfriend went to the Crossland Economy Suites where Rogers was staying. Copeland had the woman knock on the door, and it was Ricky Johnson, a friend of Rogers, who answered. In a cruel twist of fate, Copeland pushed his girlfriend aside and opened fire, striking both men. Johnson, an innocent bystander who had no connection to the dispute, was killed simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

During the week-long trial in September 2019, Copeland denied being at the hotel and his involvement in the shootings, though he did admit to dating the woman at the center of the dispute. The jury, however, found him guilty on all counts, including two counts of malice murder. LaDarrwin Copeland was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, with an additional five years to be served consecutively. His conviction was later upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court in June 2022, solidifying the legal conclusion to a senseless act of violence. While justice was served in a courtroom, the lives of two men were irrevocably lost, leaving a permanent void in the lives of their families and friends.