Adrian Johnson

Adrian Allante Johnson, a 14-year-old Black male from Toledo, Ohio, was born on July 30, 2008. His family described themselves as devastated by his death, which occurred just weeks before he would have turned fifteen.

On the evening of July 19, 2023, an altercation that began inside a house in south Toledo spilled outside. At approximately 9:30 p.m., police officers were dispatched to the 4000 block of Heatherdowns Boulevard, where they discovered Adrian suffering from at least one gunshot wound. First responders treated him at the scene before he was transported to an area hospital, where he later died from his injuries. An autopsy performed by the Lucas County Coroner’s Office determined that his death was a homicide caused by two gunshot wounds to the torso.

Detectives with the Toledo Police Department opened an investigation and soon identified Zammarion Candie, who was a minor at the time of the shooting, as the suspect. Following his arrest, Candie was certified to be tried as an adult for the crime. In June 2024, a Lucas County grand jury returned an indictment against him on two counts of murder and one count of felonious assault.

The case concluded in early 2025. In January, Zammarion Candie pleaded guilty to a charge of murder. On February 25, 2025, Judge Lindsay Navarre sentenced him to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 18 years. As of February 2025, the case is closed.