Stephanie Smith was a 28-year-old mother devoted to her young son, Jordan. In the fall of 2000, she was living and working in Phoenix, Arizona, focused on providing for her family. Her life was tragically and irrevocably altered when she became the victim of a robbery and then, for her courage in cooperating with police, the target of a calculated execution. Her willingness to stand as a witness in the pursuit of justice would ultimately cost her her life, leaving a child without his mother.
The series of events began on November 7, 2000, at the Affordable Massage parlor where Stephanie worked. Two men, later identified as Ruben Johnson and Jarvis Ross, both members of the Lindo Park Crips street gang, forced their way in through a back door. The armed men robbed Stephanie and another person inside before fleeing. While Johnson initially escaped, Phoenix police apprehended Jarvis Ross shortly after the crime. Stephanie did not hesitate to assist law enforcement; she positively identified Ross from a photo lineup as one of the men who had robbed her.
With her identification, Stephanie became the key witness in the armed robbery case against Ross. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for November 15, 2000, where her testimony would be crucial. Determined to prevent this, Ruben Johnson, Ross’s accomplice, set out to silence her permanently. After coercing an acquaintance into revealing Stephanie’s home address, Johnson enlisted another gang member, Quindell Carter, to help him carry out his plan to eliminate the witness against his "homie."
In the predawn hours of November 15, the very day she was scheduled to testify, the plan was put into horrific action. Johnson and Carter arrived at Stephanie’s apartment. While Carter waited, Johnson entered the home and went to the bedroom. Inside, the tranquil scene of a mother reading to her four-year-old son was shattered. Johnson entered the room and, after a brief, terrifying confrontation, shot Stephanie once in the head, murdering her in front of her child.
While Quindell Carter was arrested by police near the apartment complex shortly after the murder, Ruben Johnson once again evaded immediate capture. His freedom, however, was short-lived, brought to an end by his own arrogance. Two days later, on November 17, Johnson walked into the Maryvale Justice Court and spoke with a clerk named Phyllis Hansen. Bragging that he was the unnamed suspect in the news reports about Stephanie’s murder, he confessed to killing her to stop her from testifying. He left behind paperwork that further incriminated him, and Hansen immediately reported the confession to the police.
This stunning admission led directly to Johnson’s arrest. He was charged with a slate of crimes connected to the robbery and Stephanie’s murder. On December 22, 2003, a jury found Ruben Johnson guilty of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and assisting a criminal syndicate. For the cold-blooded, execution-style murder of a state’s witness, he was sentenced to death. He received additional prison sentences for the other convictions. Both Jarvis Ross and Quindell Carter also faced legal consequences for their roles in the crimes.
The case against Ruben Johnson was affirmed on appeal, with courts noting the murder was a direct and heinous assault on the criminal justice system itself. As of early 2024, more than two decades after he silenced a brave witness and orphaned a young boy, Ruben Johnson remains on death row in Arizona.
