Sheila Johnson

A man and woman are found shot in the head and lying in a parking lot
In the pre-dawn hours of a Wednesday in San Antonio, Texas, a brutal act of violence left two families shattered and a mystery that would endure for decades. The lives of Sheila Johnson, a 31-year-old woman, and 17-year-old Steven Munoz were cut short on September 14, 1994, in the deserted parking lot of a car wash on the city’s Southside. Very little is publicly known about Sheila’s life—her family, her work, her passions, or the path that led her to that place on that fateful night. Her story is largely defined by its violent end, a narrative that her loved ones and investigators long to complete with answers and justice.

The crime scene was discovered at approximately 3 a.m. at a car wash located in the 8300 block of South Flores Street. When police arrived, they found Sheila Johnson and Steven Munoz lying in the parking lot, both having been shot. The attack was swift and deadly. Sheila suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her death was instantaneous, a sudden and final punctuation to a life of which few public records remain. Steven, a teenager with his whole life ahead of him, was found nearby with a gunshot wound to his face. He was alive but gravely injured. Emergency responders rushed him to Wilford Hall Hospital, but despite medical efforts, he succumbed to his injuries.

The San Antonio Police Department immediately launched a double homicide investigation, but the circumstances of the crime offered few initial clues. The early morning hour meant there were likely no eyewitnesses to the shootings, and the location in a car wash parking lot provided little context. Investigators were faced with the daunting task of piecing together the final hours of both Sheila and Steven. They needed to understand the connection between the 31-year-old woman and the 17-year-old boy, what they were doing at a car wash in the middle of the night, and who would have wanted them dead.

Over the years, the investigation has yielded no suspects and no clear motive. The case eventually went cold, the files passed to a new generation of investigators in the San Antonio Police Department’s Cold Case Squad. The lack of public information has been a hallmark of this case, with authorities releasing very few details about the evidence, if any, that was collected at the scene. Without a murder weapon, witnesses, or a known reason for the attack, the trail for the killer or killers has remained elusive for more than two decades. The silence surrounding the case has been a source of prolonged pain for the families of Sheila and Steven, who have been left to wonder about the violent end their loved ones met.

The South Flores Street corridor, a major artery on the Southside of San Antonio, has seen significant changes since 1994, but the memory of this unsolved crime lingers. For the community, it is a stark reminder of the devastating impact of violence. For law enforcement, it represents a puzzle that they remain determined to solve, believing that someone, somewhere, holds the key to unlocking the truth of what happened that night.

As of January 2017, the double homicide of Sheila Johnson and Steven Munoz remains an active cold case. Investigators hope that the passage of time may encourage someone with information to finally come forward. Relationships change, and allegiances fade, and a witness who was once afraid to speak may now be willing to provide the crucial tip that could lead to an arrest. The San Antonio Police Department continues to ask for the public’s help. Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the SAPD's Cold Case Squad at 210-207-7635.